Shedding Misconceptions: The importance and impact of Drug allergy de-labelling

Abstract

Drug allergies are often misunderstood, leading to misconceptions that can both hinder effective medical treatment and contribute to patient anxiety. It leads to prescription of other broad spectrum and expensive antibiotics which can be contributing to antimicrobial resistance, economic burden to the patient and the healthcare system. By the process of de-labelling, we can be championing for antimicrobial stewardship.

De-labelling often involves a structured approach, including a detailed medical history, assessment of the initial allergic reaction, and consideration of potential testing, such as skin tests or supervised drug challenges. It’s a collaborative effort, requiring expertise from allergists in combination with the patient's healthcare team, leading to improved patient care and reduced constraints on medication choices. If these evaluations show that a patient can safely tolerate a drug they were previously labelled allergic to, the allergy label is removed, or de-labelled,it can pave the way forward to use it in future if required.