Allergies that we thought we had in childhood may no longer exist, they can come and go. Our doctors at the Centre for Antibiotic Allergy and Research run allergy clinics at Austin Health and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. The Antibiotic Allergy Service can determine current allergies, which can help your treating team make the best decisions about which antibiotics to give. This service can occur in a variety of settings including ambulatory clinics, inpatient programs and clinical trials.

The ORACLE study, a world-first multi-centre pilot randomised controlled trial of direct oral challenge for low-risk penicillin allergy in critical illness demonstrated that direct oral challenge is safe and effective when delivered in the ICU setting and is associated with significantly increased access to penicillin antibiotics. The results of this study pave the way for optimising antimicrobial therapy for vulnerable patients at a time of high antibiotic demand.