title: Association between chronic urticaria and self-reported penicillin allergy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Penicillin allergy is the most commonly reported drug allergy and often presents with cutaneous symptoms. Other common diagnoses, such as chronic urticaria, may be falsely attributed to penicillin allergy. Because chronic urticaria is fairly common in the general population, evaluation of its prevalence in patients with self-reported penicillin allergy was of interest. Similarly, the prevalence of self-reported penicillin allergy in patients with chronic urticaria is not well known and also becomes interesting in light of the high prevalence of self-reported penicillin allergy in the general population.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine the prevalence of self-reported penicillin allergy in patients with chronic urticaria and the prevalence of chronic urticaria in patients with self-reported penicillin allergy.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a retrospective medical record review of 11,143 patients completed using the electronic health record of the University of Pennsylvania Allergy and Immunology clinic.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of self-reported penicillin allergy in patients with chronic urticaria was found to be approximately 3 times greater than in the general population. The prevalence of chronic urticaria in patients with self-reported penicillin allergy was also found to be approximately 3 times greater than in the population.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This link between chronic urticaria and self-reported penicillin allergy highlights the need for clinicians to inquire about self-reported penicillin allergy in patients with chronic urticaria and to consider penicillin skin testing. Furthermore, patients who report penicillin allergy might actually have chronic urticaria, indicating the importance of inquiring about chronic urticaria symptoms in patients with self-reported penicillin allergy.
authors.affiliation: Section of Allergy and Immunology, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Department of Medicine, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Susanna
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Silverman
authors.affiliation: Division of Biostatistics, Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Russell
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Localio
authors.affiliation: Section of Allergy and Immunology, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Electronic address: andrea.apter@uphs.upenn.edu.
authors.forename: Andrea J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Apter
mesh_terms: D000485:Allergens / Q000276:immunology*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D015897:Comorbidity; D004342:Drug Hypersensitivity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D057286:Electronic Health Records; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010406:Penicillins / Q000276:immunology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D057566:Self Report / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014481:United States; D014581:Urticaria / Q000453:epidemiology*
chemical_list: D000485:Allergens; D010406:Penicillins