I like to re-challenge all amox rashes twice. Occasionally get a repeat, but rarely. I have never seen a life-threatening event following a second try of amox in a child less than 10y. I hate to wall off such a great class of drug without knowing for sure... -gb ----- Original Message ----- From: "Michael Sachs" <> To: <> Sent: Sunday, February 17, 2002 5:12 PM Subject: Re: The Infamous "Amoxil Rash" >In a message dated 2/14/2002 1:40:45 PM Eastern Standard Time, > writes: > > > > Anyone have any information on the infamous "Amoxil (amoxicillin) rash"? >At 04:31 PM 2/17/02 -0500, wrote: >No data, but I certainly see it. That's why I ask lots of questions when >parents tell me their child is allergic to something. You really have to >find out what kind of reaction they had. Many tell me they vomited, or had >some diarrhea, or something else like that. Rashes are tougher, because they >don't always remember what it looked like or whether it itched. If I'm not >really sure, I let them know that testing is available for penicillin >allergy. > >Moshe Adler, MD I seem to recall reading somewhere that 70-80% of people who report a penicillin allergy actually are not allergic. Sometimes when I'm pretty confident that a non-urticarial rash is likely one of these idiosyncratic Amoxil rashes or maybe a non-specific viral exanthem I'll try Amoxil again at some point in the future. I've rarely seen the rash duplicated on a subsequent course of Amoxil. So here's a question back to the list: If a child has had a non-severe, non-specific, non-systemic, non-urticarial rash associated with Amoxil in the past, is there likely to be a significant risk of anaphylaxis with trying another course before doing formal skin or RAST testing? Any opinions? Michael Sachs, M.D. General Pediatrician