Recent patents in Allergy/Immunology: New pyrazinones for the diagnosis of allergies to aminocephalosporins.

Cephalosporins are, after penicillins, the most important β-lactam inductors of immediate allergic reactions. Their antigenic determinants are not completely identified due to difficulties for studying the structure of cephalosporin-protein conjugates, hampering the existence of in vitro tests with enough sensitivity to detect cephalosporin allergy.1 Therefore, the only diagnostic standardised options are skin tests and drug provocation tests, which are risky, especially in cases of severe reactions. This forces physicians to select alternative β-lactams that, although safe for penicillin/cephalosporin-allergic patients, could be less effective and pose problems related to costs and antibacterial-resistance.