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How are drug-allergy contraindications determined?
Is there a classification scheme for allergens, a classification scheme for drugs, and a federal (or other) database which connects the classes of drugs to the (contra-indicated) classes of allergens?
Example: If I report I'm allergic to Penicillin, it's pretty obvious that I shouldn't be prescribed Penicillin. However, there are a number of related contra-indicated drugs (Amoxycillin, Augmentin, etc.) whose name doesn't necessarily contain the word "Penicillin", but which are derived from penicillin, and which likely shouldn't be prescribed to me. And there may be other classes of drugs that aren't necessarily directly derived from Penicillin that shouldn't be given to someone that's allergic to it. How do you identify those drugs, particularly if you want to do so automatically (such as in an automated contra-indication checking system)?
Example: If I report I'm allergic to Penicillin, it's pretty obvious that I shouldn't be prescribed Penicillin. However, there are a number of related contra-indicated drugs (Amoxycillin, Augmentin, etc.) whose name doesn't necessarily contain the word "Penicillin", but which are derived from penicillin, and which likely shouldn't be prescribed to me. And there may be other classes of drugs that aren't necessarily directly derived from Penicillin that shouldn't be given to someone that's allergic to it. How do you identify those drugs, particularly if you want to do so automatically (such as in an automated contra-indication checking system)?
42 yr old, Male
asked Feb 10, 2010 at 01:34PM in Allergies
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0VotesHI there,
I would think that the medical professional reviewing your chart would know which drugs are chemically similar enough to Penicillin to cause a problem.
As for how these allergies are determined, as far as I know, there is generally no way to know except trial-and-error and extrapolation.
But there are genetic tests in the works that can identify genetic anomalies that have known atypical reactions to certain drugs. For example, some children cannot tolerate ibuprofen; it can actually kill them. There is no way to know this without testing -- or the genetic testing.
I hope this helps.
Gina Pera, journalist-author-
P.S. As for the first part of your question (about which Penicilin-type medications you should list), you might want to ask your local pharmacist. They are often wonderful sources of information about drug interactions, etc.Gina Pera commented Feb 10, 2010 at 05:30PM
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