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Record W4414889550 · doi:10.4212/cjhp.3774

Safety of Cefazolin in Pregnant Patients with Documented Penicillin Allergy: A Retrospective Cohort Study

2025· article· en· W4414889550 on OpenAlexaffvenue
Caitlin Chew, Roxane Carr, Chelsea Elwood, Vanessa Paquette

Bibliographic record

VenueThe Canadian Journal of Hospital Pharmacy · 2025
Typearticle
Languageen
FieldMedicine
TopicDrug-Induced Adverse Reactions
Canadian institutionsB.C. Women's Hospital & Health CentreWomen's Health Research InstituteChildren's & Women's Health Centre of British Columbia
Fundersnot available
KeywordsCefazolinRetrospective cohort studyPenicillinAdverse effectCohort studyPregnancy

Abstract

fetched live from OpenAlex

Background: The antibiotic cefazolin is commonly used in pregnancy, as first-line prophylaxis for cesarean section wounds or as an alternative to penicillin for prophylaxis against group B Streptococcus. About 10% of people report a penicillin allergy, and clinicians have historically avoided the use of β-lactams (including cefazolin) in these individuals. Instead, they have used non-β-lactams, which can lead to poorer maternal outcomes. Objective: To evaluate the safety of cefazolin in pregnant patients with a documented history of penicillin allergy. Methods: This retrospective cohort study included all pregnant patients with a documented penicillin allergy at the time of receiving their first dose of cefazolin at a large tertiary care hospital (January 2016 to August 2021). Descriptive statistics were calculated. Results: A total of 179 patients were included in the analysis. Most (175 [97.8%]) had no allergic adverse event after receiving cefazolin. Two patients (1.1%) experienced immunoglobulin E (IgE)–mediated hives, and 2 patients (1.1%) experienced non–IgE-mediated rashes. No patients experienced anaphylaxis, and no patients with a documented history of anaphylaxis to penicillins experienced an allergic adverse event related to cefazolin. All 4 patients who experienced an allergic adverse event were discharged with no readmission to the study institution associated with the allergic adverse event. Conclusion: No patients with a documented history of anaphylaxis to penicillin experienced an allergic adverse event upon receiving cefazolin. Cefazolin was safely given to pregnant people with a history of penicillin allergy. Keywords: cefazolin, obstetrics, pregnancy, penicillin allergy, β-lactam allergy RÉSUMÉ Contexte : La céfazoline est un antibiotique couramment utilisé pendant la grossesse comme prophylaxie de première intention pour les plaies opératoires de césarienne ou comme solution de rechange à la pénicilline pour la prophylaxie contre le streptocoque du groupe B. Environ 10 % des personnes déclarent être allergiques à la pénicilline et les cliniciens ont par le passé évité l’utilisation des β-lactamines (y compris la céfazoline) chez ces patients, préférant des antibiotiques non β-lactamines, ce qui peut entraîner des résultats maternels moins favorables. Objectif : Évaluer l’innocuité de la céfazoline chez les patientes enceintes ayant des antécédents attestés d’allergie à la pénicilline. Méthodologie : Cette étude de cohorte rétrospective incluait toutes les patientes enceintes ayant une allergie attestée à la pénicilline au moment de recevoir la première administration de céfazoline dans un grand hôpital tertiaire (de janvier 2016 à août 2021). Des statistiques descriptives ont été calculées. Résultats : Un total de 179 patientes ont été incluses dans l’analyse. La plupart (175 [97,8 %]) n’avaient connu aucun antécédent d’événement indésirable allergique lié à la céfazoline. Deux patientes (1,1 %) ont eu de l’urticaire médiée par les immunoglobulines E (IgE), et des éruptions non médiées par les IgE se sont produites chez deux autres (1,1 %). Aucune patiente n’a connu d’anaphylaxie, et aucune ayant des antécédents attestés d’anaphylaxie aux pénicillines n’a connu d’événement allergique lié à la céfazoline. Les 4 patientes ayant connu un événement indésirable allergique ont quitté l’établissement étudié lié à cet événement sans y être réadmises. Conclusion : Aucune patiente ayant des antécédents attestés d’anaphylaxie à la pénicilline n’a vécu d’événement indésirable allergique après avoir reçu de la céfazoline. La céfazoline a été administrée en toute sécurité aux personnes enceintes ayant une allergie à la pénicilline. Mots-clés : céfazoline, obstétrique, grossesse, allergie à la pénicilline, allergie aux β-lactamines

Fetched live from OpenAlex and de-inverted. Abstracts are not stored in this database: the inverted indexes are 8.6 GB of the frame’s 9.3 GB of text, and the host has 13 GB free.

How this classification was reachedexpand

Full frame machine prediction

Teacher imitation

Not calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.

metaresearch head score (Codex)0.001
metaresearch head score (Gemma)0.005
Version: metacan-v3-hybrid-931329e0061cValidation status: machine_predicted_unvalidated
Candidate categoriesnone
Consensus categoriesnone
DomainCandidate signal: none · Consensus signal: none
Study designCandidate signal: Observational · Consensus signal: Observational
GenreCandidate signal: Empirical · Consensus signal: Empirical
Teacher disagreement score0.003
Threshold uncertainty score0.006

Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)

CategoryCodexGemma
Metaresearch0.0010.005
Meta-epidemiology (narrow)0.0000.000
Meta-epidemiology (broad)0.0000.001
Bibliometrics0.0010.001
Science and technology studies0.0000.000
Scholarly communication0.0010.001
Open science0.0000.000
Research integrity0.0000.001
Insufficient payload (model declined to judge)0.0010.000

Machine scores (provisional)

The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.

Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.

Opus teacher head0.007
GPT teacher head0.270
Teacher spread0.263 · how far apart the two teachers sit on this one work
Validation statusscore_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from it

Classification

machine, unvalidated

Machine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.

The models applied no category: nothing in the taxonomy fit this work.
Study designObservational
Domainnot available
GenreEmpirical

How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".

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Citations0
Published2025
Admission routes2
Has abstractyes

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