Penicillin Allergy

Although commonly reported, true penicillin allergy is actually rare. It is common for patients to be given antibiotics that are suboptimal for treating their infections that also result in higher costs and unnecessary use broad-spectrum antibiotics that can promote the development of resistant organisms. Clinicians need to know how to identify true penicillin allergy. This course provides resources clinicians can use to manage patients who believe they are allergic to penicillin.

The JAMA Network has published a series of articles, podcasts, and videos on this process and also developed a toolkit clinicians can use in their clinical practice to assess penicillin sensitivity.

• CME 2.0
  Evaluate and manage patients who report penicillin allergy.
  Read this JAMA Review, and take the quiz to earn 1 hour of CME credit.
  Download this Toolkit containing checklists clinicians can use to review a patient's history for penicillin allergy and to help establish penicillin allergy testing in their clinical practice.
  Read this JAMA Internal Medicine article, and take the quiz to earn 1 hour of CME credit.
• CME 1.0
  JAMA Insights article describing the problem of penicillin allergy misdiagnosis
  Read this JAMA Insights article, and take the quiz to earn 1 hour of CME credit.
  For more information on this topic, read this JAMA Medical News and Perspectives article describing the problem of misidentification of penicillin allergy.
  Print and share this JAMA Patient Page to provide helpful information for your patients regarding penicillin allergy.
• CME 1.0
  Podcast CME courses describing penicillin allergy assessment
  Listen to this podcast in order to learn how to assess whether a patient is truly allergic to penicillin, and take the quiz for 0.5 CME credit.
  Listen to this podcast to understand the scope of penicillin allergy and its management, and take the quiz for 0.5 CME credit.
  Watch this video and see how to perform penicillin allergy testing in a clinical practice.
• CME 2.0
  US Preventive Services Task Force report on syphilis highlighting the importance of formal penicillin allergy testing
  Read this USPSTF Recommendation Statement to understand the benefits of screening high-risk nonpregnant adults for syphilis, and take the quiz to earn 1 hour of CME credit.
  Read this USPSTF Reaffirmation Recommendation Statement, which highlights the importance of formal penicillin allergy testing to treat syphilis infection in pregnant women who report penicillin allergy, and take the quiz to earn 1 hour of CME credit.
• CME 1.0
  Management Considerations for Infective Endocarditis discusses the need for penicillin allergy testing
  Read this JAMA Review of endocarditis diagnosis and treatment, and take the quiz to earn 1 hour of CME credit.
• CME 1.0
  Cellulitis is often best treated with penicillin allergy drugs
  Read this JAMA Review of cellulitis which highlights that patients would benefit by penicillin allergy testing if they report a penicillin allergy, and take the quiz to earn 1 hour of CME credit.