Antibiotic and Other Drug Allergies

Antibiotic and Other Drug Allergies

From OSU MedNet21 by The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center

February 20, 2026 · 58 min

About this episode

This episode discusses the differentiation and assessment of antibiotic and other drug allergies, focusing on penicillin and cross-reactivity with cephalosporins.

This program will discuss Antibiotic and Other Drug Allergies. As drug allergies are a common presenting concern for patients, learners should expect to gain a better ability to differentiate different types of drug allergies, both through clinical features as well as optimal use of allergy testing strategies. They should also be able to feel confident assessing patients with penicillin allergies, as optimal evaluation of these potential allergies can reduce the unnecessary use of alternative antibiotics when penicillin is optimal. Viewers will learn how to apply principles of drug allergy history taking and testing to specific antibiotic classes with a special focus on cross-reactivity between beta-lactams such as penicillin and cephalosporins. Patient-specific factors including likely need for antibiotics in settings such as surgery and pregnancy will be discussed. Link to transcript [Link to transcript]( https://podcast.osu.edu/osumednet21/wp-content/uploads/sites/27/2025/11/FoodAllergy_transcript.pdf )

Topics covered

  • drug allergies
  • antibiotics
  • penicillin
  • allergy testing
  • cross-reactivity
  • patient assessment

Keywords

  • drug allergies
  • penicillin
  • cephalosporins
  • allergy testing
  • cross-reactivity
  • surgery
  • pregnancy

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center

Products: penicillin, cephalosporins

Places: surgery, pregnancy

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