Studies on the epidemiology of adverse drug reactions. II. An evaluation of penicillin allergy.

THE remarkable lack of pharmacologic toxicity of penicillin is now well established, but penicillin hypersensitivity reactions have become a serious problem. A projection of statistics from some surveys estimates that 100 to 300 fatalities occur annually in the United States from reactions to penicillin,1 and an estimated 2,500,000 people in the United States are allergic to this widely used antibiotic.2 Adverse reactions to penicillin occur in 1 to 8 per cent of patients treated.3 The different reaction rates are probably related to numerous factors, including the difficulty in attributing reactions specifically to penicillin, particularly when several drugs are being administered . . .

[1]  C. W. Parker,et al.  HYPERSENSITIVITY TO PENICILLENIC ACID DERIVATIVES IN HUMAN BEINGS WITH PENICILLIN ALLERGY , 1962, The Journal of experimental medicine.

[2]  C. W. Parker,et al.  EVALUATION OF INTRADERMAL SKIN TESTS IN PENICILLIN HYPERSENSITIVITY. , 1964, JAMA.

[3]  S. Feinberg,et al.  ALLERGY TO PENICILLIN: GUEST EDITORIAL , 1956 .

[4]  A. Tobe,et al.  ASSOCIATION OF HEMAGGLUTINATING ANTIBODIES WITH SKIN SENSITIVITY IN PENICILLIN ALLERGY. , 1963, The Journal of allergy.

[5]  L. Goodman,et al.  The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics; a Textbook of Pharmacology, Toxicology, and Therapeutics for Physicians and Medical Students , 1965 .

[6]  B. Levine.  STUDIES ON THE MECHANISM OF THE FORMATION OF THE PENICILLIN ANTIGEN , 1960, The Journal of experimental medicine.

[7]  F. Klion,et al.  DETECTION OF PENICILLIN HYPERSENSITIVITY WITH PENICILLOYL-POLYLYSINE. , 1963, JAMA.

[8]  S. Feinberg.  Allergy from therapeutic products. Incidence, importance, recognition, and prevention. , 1961, JAMA.

[9]  W. G. Simpson,et al.  Reevaluation of reactions to penicillin in venereal disease clinic patients. , 1961, Public health reports.

[10]  J. T. Connell,et al.  RESULTS OF COMPARATIVE SKIN TESTS WITH PENICILLOYL-POLYLYSINE AND PENICILLIN IN PATIENTS WITH PENICILLIN ALLERGY. , 1965, The American journal of medicine.

[11]  D. Kaye,et al.  SYSTEMIC MANIFESTATIONS AFTER A SKIN TEST WITH PENICILLOYLPOLYLYSINE. , 1964, The New England journal of medicine.

[12]  E. Price,et al.  PENICILLOYL-POLYLYSINE AS AN INTRADERMAL TEST OF PENICILLIN SENSITIVITY. , 1964, JAMA.

[13]  P. Vanarsdel.  ALLERGIC REACTIONS TO PENICILLIN. , 1965, JAMA.

[14]  H. Houser,et al.  Sensitivity reactions to intramuscular injection of benzathine penicillin. , 1959, The New England journal of medicine.