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Skatingraccoon t1_j2edke7 wrote

People can be allergic to anything, and penicillin is pretty much mold cultures. The fact that it is used as an antibiotic doesn't make it more or less likely to be an allergen.

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MyFavDinoIsDrinker t1_j2eek79 wrote

Penicillin is not the "pinnacle" antibiotic at all. It was the first one discovered. Since then thousands more have been created, most of which are better for at least a few types of infection.

And all allergies have the same root cause: some molecule is similar enough in structure to a molecule we use in our own body that our immune system gets "confused" and attacks us thinking it is attacking invaders.

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TipEffective3625 t1_j2egnbj wrote

Penicillin and its derivatives have been around longest, and are therefore the least expensive and most widely available. The more people take them, and the more frequently the same person takes them, the more opportunities there are to develop an allergy.

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WellThatTickles t1_j2egvfx wrote

One thing to add is that many people were told they are allergic to penicillin by their parents as a result of developing a rash after its use as a child. Often this rash was a result of the infection itself or from toxins released by the bacteria when they were killed and not actually an allergy.

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Karma-Kat_ t1_j2eie2r wrote

This is interesting to know.

I have a severe allergy to penicillin, and last time my 3 yo had penicillin he developed a rash (no other allergy symptoms like me), so the Doctor put it down to him having an allergy also

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ScienceIsSexy420 t1_j2f2826 wrote

Not exactly, allergies are when the immune system responds to a molecule as though it is a pathogen. An autoimmune disease is when our immune system recognizes some portion of ourself as a pathogen You just blended together autoimmune diseases and allergies, and they are two very different things.

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