Children suspected of being allergic to beta-lactam antibiotics

Many patients are falsely said to be allergic to betalactam antibiotics, with all the attendant restrictions. The aim of this study was to investigate the characteristics of children with suspected betalactam allergy, and to outline the diagnoses used. It was a cross-sectional, descriptive study of children suspected of being allergic to betalactam antibiotics. It involved 38 children. Typical urticaria was diagnosed in (52.6%). Typical maculopapular exanthema was noted in (18.4%). According to the Bégaud score, chronological imputability was doubtful in N=18 patients (47%).Differential diagnoses were evoked in cases of doubtful semiological imputability (S1), such as infection N= 21 (55%), allergy to other concomitant treatments N=4 (10.5%), food allergy following seafood consumption N=2 (5.26%), and chocolate-induced histaminoliberation (2.6%). This study serves as a reminder of the possibility of alternative diagnoses other than allergy in the paediatric population, and encourages paediatricians to re-prescribe them after the pharmacovigilance survey.