Risk of meticillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Clostridium difficile in patients with a documented penicillin allergy: population based matched cohort study.
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ABSTRACT: To evaluate the relation between penicillin allergy and development of meticillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and C difficile.Population based matched cohort study.United Kingdom general practice (1995-2015).301?399 adults without previous MRSA or C difficile enrolled in the Health Improvement Network database: 64?141 had a penicillin allergy and 237?258 comparators matched on age, sex, and study entry time.The primary outcome was risk of incident MRSA and C difficile. Secondary outcomes were use of ? lactam antibiotics and ? lactam alternative antibiotics.Among 64?141 adults with penicillin allergy and 237?258 matched comparators, 1365 developed MRSA (442 participants with penicillin allergy and 923 comparators) and 1688 developed C difficile (442 participants with penicillin allergy and 1246 comparators) during a mean 6.0 years of follow-up. Among patients with penicillin allergy the adjusted hazard ratio for MRSA was 1.69 (95% confidence interval 1.51 to 1.90) and for C difficile was 1.26 (1.12 to 1.40). The adjusted incidence rate ratios for antibiotic use among patients with penicillin allergy were 4.15 (95% confidence interval 4.12 to 4.17) for macrolides, 3.89 (3.66 to 4.12) for clindamycin, and 2.10 (2.08 to 2.13) for fluoroquinolones. Increased use of ? lactam alternative antibiotics accounted for 55% of the increased risk of MRSA and 35% of the increased risk of C difficile.Documented penicillin allergy was associated with an increased risk of MRSA and C difficile that was mediated by the increased use of ? lactam alternative antibiotics. Systematically addressing penicillin allergies may be an important public health strategy to reduce the incidence of MRSA and C difficile among patients with a penicillin allergy label.
SUBMITTER: Blumenthal KG
PROVIDER: S-EPMC6019853 | biostudies-other | 2018 Jun
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other
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