North Carolina

Instructions

1. Go to https://governor.nc.gov/request-proclamation-letter-or-award

2. Under Select your form* choose “Request a Proclamation”.

3. Complete first 5 fields with your personal/organization's information.

4. Under Name of Proclamation* type “National Penicillin Allergy Day”.

5. Under Month/Day/Week/Year of Proclamation* type “September 28, 2018”.

6. In the box beneath Suggested Text of Proclamation* copy/paste the Draft Proclamation (below) in its entirety, including the References.

7. Under Presentation Date* select “September 28, 2018” and for Presentation Event* type “National Penicillin Allergy Day”.

8. Click Submit.

9. Click here to send us an email and let us know you've submitted a proclamation request for NC!

Draft Proclamation

Copy text below IN FULL and paste into Suggest Text of Proclamation box

(TEMPLATE ONLY: PLEASE MODIFY TO YOUR NEEDS)

 

NATIONAL PENICILLIN ALLERGY DAY PROCLAMATION

2018

BY THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA

A PROCLAMATION

 

WHEREAS, penicillin is the most commonly reported drug allergy with 10% of all US patients—30 million Americans, or more than 1 million North Carolinians—reporting having an allergic reaction to a penicillin-class antibiotic in their past1; and

WHEREAS, penicillin allergy history is often inaccurate, with research showing that 9 out of 10 patients reporting as penicillin allergic—about 27 million Americans, or 913,000 North Carolinians—are not truly allergic to penicillin1; and

WHEREAS, inaccurate diagnosis of penicillin allergy can adversely impact medical costs for both patients and healthcare systems: research shows that antibiotic costs for patients reporting penicillin allergies are up to 63% higher than for those who do not report being penicillin-allergic2; and

WHEREAS, in the hospital setting, history of penicillin allergy translates to about 10% more hospital days, 30% higher incidence of VRE infections, 23% higher incidence of C difficile infections, and 14% higher incidence of MRSA infections2; and

WHEREAS, these adverse events occur because penicillin “allergic” patients are given more broad spectrum antibiotics2, which contributes to the public health problem of antibiotic resistance3; and

WHEREAS, National Penicillin Allergy Day is being organized to raise awareness of false penicillin allergy and encourage the de-labeling of patients erroneously labeled penicillin-allergic by promoting penicillin allergy skin testing;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, ROY COOPER, Governor of the State of North Carolina, do hereby proclaim September 28, 2018, as “NATIONAL PENICILLIN ALLERGY DAY” in North Carolina and commend its observance to all citizens.

 

References:

  1. Joint Task Force on Practice Parameters representing the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology; American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology; Joint Council of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. Drug allergy: an updated practice parameter. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 2010 Oct;105(4):259-273
  2. Macy, E. M., & Contreras, R. (2014). Healthcare Utilization and Serious Infection Prevalence Associated With Penicillin “Allergy” In Hospitalized Patients: A Cohort Study. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology,133(2). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaci.2013.09.021
  3. Dellit, TH, Owens, RC, McGowan JE, Jr et al. Infectious Disease Society of America and the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America Guidelines for Developing Institutional Programs to Enhance Antimicrobial Stewardship. Clin Infect Dis. 2007;44-150-77.