Findings
A total of 1486 hospital inpatients were surveyed (1166 adults; 308
children). Only 48 (3.2%) patients self-reported a BLA with a higher
rate amongst private- versus government-funded hospitals [6.3% vs
2.8%, p=0.014]. Using the PEN-FAST tool, only 10.4% (5/48) of self
reported BLA patients were classified as high risk for true penicillin
hypersensitivity. Antibiotics were prescribed to 70.8% (34/48) of self
reported BLA patients, with 64.7% (22/34) receiving a beta-lactam.
Despite three attempts to contact patients for de-labelling at the
allergy clinic, only 3/36 underwent in vivo testing, with no positive
results and one patient proceeded toa negative oral challenge.