Hypersensitivity
| Home | | Pharmaceutical Microbiology | | Pharmaceutical Microbiology |Chapter: Pharmaceutical Microbiology : Antibiotics And Synthetic Antimicrobial Agents: Their Properties And Uses
Although penicillins are among the safest antimicrobial agents available, allergic reactions, particularly skin allergies, may occur in 1–10% of patients receiving them, and the much more serious, and potentially fatal, anaphylactic reactions occur in 0.005–0.05% of cases.
HYPERSENSITIVITY
Although penicillins are among the safest antimicrobial agents
available, allergic reactions, particularly skin allergies, may occur in 1–10%
of patients receiving them, and the much more serious, and potentially fatal,
anaphylactic reactions occur in 0.005–0.05% of cases. Patients sensitive to one
penicillin will be sensitive to all others because it is the basic penicillin
structure that is responsible for the hypersensitivity, but benzyl penicillin
and ampicillin are the ones most likely to cause anaphylaxis and skin allergy
respectively. Although hypersensitivity reactions can occur after
administration via any route, the more severe reactions are most likely to
arise after intravenous injection. About 10% of patients allergic to penicillins
will also be sensitive to cephalosporins.
