Prevalence of Confirmed Vs. Declared Beta-Lactam Allergies in Patients

Davey Legendre, PharmD, MBA, BCPS, Region Vice President, Clinical Infectious Diseases, Comprehensive Pharmacy Services, sheds light on the prevalence of confirmed beta-lactam allergies in patients.

Interview Transcript (slightly modified for readability)

“The prevalence of confirmed beta-lactam allergy in patients is somewhere around 1% to 10% of patients that actually present to the hospital and declare an allergy. Up to 20% of patients actually declare an antibiotic allergy at some point during their stay, but only a fraction of those patients have a confirmed beta-lactam allergy.”