CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (CBS19 NEWS) -- Tuesday marks National Penicillin Allergy Day. Doctors at the University of Virginia Health System recommend people get re-evaluated.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, ten percent of patients report a penicillin allergy, but only one percent of the population is truly allergic.

"There's a lot of good data to say that allergy can wane with time and it would be great to assess and see if you can take it again," said UVA Health Professor of Medicine Dr. Anna Smith.

If you were told you were allergic to penicillin as a child, Smith says you should get re-evaluated.

She says there's an 80 percent chance a person could outgrow their penicillin allergy if diagnosed around a decade ago.

Smith says misdiagnosis can cause people major problems.

"You can oftentimes get treated with a broader antibiotic, a bigger antibiotic, and that can be less preferred and more costly," she said.

Smith says misdiagnosis could also cause antibiotic resistance.

She says re-evaluations are done by a skin test with minimal discomfort. Smith says you receive results by the end of your doctor's visit.

"If the testing is negative, what we often do is follow up with an antibiotic challenge," she said. "We give you an antibiotic, like amoxicillin or penicillin in the office, under observation, we keep an eye on you for a little bit. We keep an eye on you for a little bit of time to make sure you don't have a reaction."

Smith says they're also studying other antibiotics to see if people can lose their sensitivity to the drug over time.