While 10 per cent of people report having an allergy to penicillin, fewer than one per cent actually have a true allergy, according to Dr Tiffany Wong. This mislabelling can lead to the unnecessary use of alternative antibiotics that cost more, are less effective, and contribute to antibiotic resistance.
The Penicillin De-labelling Project — led by Dr Wong, pediatric allergist at BC Children’s Hospital and Clinical Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia, and Dr Rochelle Stimpson, a family physician at the BC Centre for Disease Control—is improving antibiotic prescribing accuracy across BC by helping patients safely remove incorrect penicillin allergy labels.
The project is supported through the Spreading the Quality Improvement (SQI) Initiative, co-funded by Doctors of BC and the Ministry of Health, and has now been adapted for further spread on Vancouver Island, where eight additional teams are implementing the approach.
To access the tools and resources to help your patients safely, check out “drop the label.”
Learn more: