Grant: Project Grant

Adverse reactions to antibiotics, principally different types of skin rashes, are often reported in children and complicate future management. The majority are diagnosed, without further evaluation, as allergic to the implicated antibiotic. They avoid it into adulthood, replacing it with antibiotics that may be less effective, more toxic, and more expensive. It is currently unknown how many of the reported antibiotic allergies represent "true" allergies. Furthermore, there is no accepted method to diagnose allergic versus non-allergic reactions. We aim to evaluate the risk of true antibiotic allergies in children with suspected antibiotic allergy and to develop simple evaluation approach to help diagnose correctly "true" allergies. In 2012, our team initiated a study collecting data from children with suspected antibiotic allergy to characterize immediate and non-immediate allergic reactions associated with antibiotics. All participants are evaluated through direct supervised ingestion (oral challenge) of the suspected antibiotic in our clinic. All participants who tolerate the antibiotic are followed for 5 years to ensure safe future use of this antibiotic. We now aim to expand our registry to evaluate the major antibiotics used to treat infections, and identify factors associated with positive challenges. Our study will provide valuable data on the safe use of antibiotics in children and the strategies to diagnose and predict allergic reactions.