N. Franklin Adkinson, M.D., The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Question: What can I do to prevent drug allergies?
Answer: The prevention of drug allergies is really a matter of avoiding exposure to drugs. Obviously, in many cases, that's not possible because medications are required for the proper treatment of many modern illnesses.
In the case of antibiotic allergy, which is responsible for more than half of all allergic drug reaction problems, one can make a strong case for conservative use of antibiotics as a way of preventing the emergence of allergic reactions to antibiotics. This means being sure of the presence of an infection that will respond to an antibiotic before antibiotics are prescribed or taken. And this oftentimes involves taking cultures and waiting for results rather than treating apparent infections based on what might be reported in a telephone call to a doctor.
So patients who've had a lot of problems with allergic reactions to antibiotics are always well advised to work with their physicians to minimize the need for antibiotic therapy and to use it only when clearly medically indicated as a way of preventing allergic reactions in the future.
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