Off-label use of medicines in South Africa: a review.

Background: Off-label use of medicinal products has become an important part of mainstream and legitimate medical practice worldwide. This practice is common in oncology, obstetrics, paediatrics, and in the management of infectious diseases (notably HIV), and inflammatory conditions as well as in rare and/or orphan diseases. However, the off-label use of medicines recently-raised many clinical and legal difficulties, not only among medical practitioners but also among pharmacists and other healthcare professionals.

COVID-19 vaccine wastage in private and public healthcare facilities in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Background: In KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), South Africa, COVID-19 vaccinations commenced in May 2021. This study investigated the extent and reasons for COVID-19 vaccine (C19V) wastage in KZN and strategies undertaken to mitigate loss.

Methods: This two-phase multicenter study was conducted at private and public healthcare facilities from May 2021 to July 2022.

Implementation of antimicrobial stewardship programmes in private healthcare settings in Africa: A scoping review.

Background: An Antimicrobial Stewardship Programme (ASP) is one of the strategic objectives of the World Health Organization's (WHO) global action plan to combat antimicrobial resistance. There have been numerous publications on the implementation of ASPs in both private and public sectors globally. However, there are no reviews and interpretive scholarly research publications on successful implementation of ASPs in private healthcare settings in Africa.

Pharmacists' use of social media as aiding tools for reading and interpreting illegible prescriptions.

Background: The ability to read and interpret a prescription is a crucial and rate-determining step for the provision of correct medicine(s), appropriate instructions to patients and for good practice of pharmacy in general. However, both in public and private healthcare settings, pharmacists continue to receive numerous illegible handwritten prescriptions. This is time consuming, and it poses serious legal and health consequences if prescriptions are read incorrectly, resulting in wrong medicines being dispensed.

The efficacy of bedaquiline versus kanamycin in multi-drug resistant tuberculosis: A systematic scoping review.

Background: Drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) has become a serious cause of concern both on a global scale and in South Africa. It is associated with a lower successful treatment rate, thus creating a hurdle in achieving good treatment outcomes for patients.

Aim: The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of the drug kanamycin, an injectable aminoglycoside, to bedaquiline, a newer oral drug used to treat DR-TB.

Costs of managing castrate-resistant metastatic prostate cancer patients at Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital.

Background: Metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) has a five-year survival rate of 30% despite the availability of expensive therapeutic agents. This study investigated the costs to a tertiary public hospital of the management of mCRPC with various therapeutic agents.

Methods: Between 1 January 2017 and 24 November 2019 the records of patients who were diagnosed with mCRPC and received chemotherapy (docetaxel) in combination with goserelin (a luteinising hormone-releasing hormone [LHRH]), or bicalutemide (an anti-androgen) at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital were analysed.

Unnecessary antimicrobial prescribing for upper respiratory tract infections in children in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.

Background: Acute upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) are contagious diseases of the upper airways, but they are self-limiting in nature. Therefore, antimicrobial-use for the majority of the URTIs is considered inappropriate. Unfortunately, globally, antimicrobials are still being prescribed for the treatment of URTIs, especially in children.

Management of stable angina pectoris in private healthcare settings in South Africa.

Aim: Angina pectoris continues to affect multitudes of people around the world. In this study the management of stable angina pectoris in private healthcare settings in South Africa (SA) was investigated. In particular, we reviewed the frequency of medical versus surgical interventions when used as first-line therapy.

Perceptions of student nurses regarding the use of a popular autobiography as a teaching tool.

Recent studies encourage educators in nursing to use innovative and non-traditional teaching methods, such as using popular movies, posters, portfolios and surfing the internet, to stimulate students' interest, participation and interaction to enhance academic performance as well as knowledge retention. In this, descriptive cross-sectional study, we used self-administered questionnaires with statements graded on 5-points Likert scale (quantitative measures) and open-ended questions (qualitative measures), to assess the feasibility and students' perceptions regarding the use of Lance Armstrong's autobiography of surviving against cancer as a teaching tool. At the beginning of the lecture copies of selected chapters from: "It's Not About the Bike; My Journey Back to Life" [Armstrong, L.

Effect of Boophone disticha on human neutrophils.

Boophone disticha (Amaryllidaceae) are mainly used in Southern Africa for inflammatory conditions. It is also known for its toxic effects. Because of the putative effects on components of the immune system and inflammatory response the effects of extracts of the bulb of Boophane disticha were investigated on ATP production in isolated human neutrophils.

The ethnopharmacology and toxicology of Urginea sanguinea in the Pretoria area.

A water extract of the bulb of the plant Urginea sanguinea Schinz = (Urginea burkei Bak) (Liliaceae) is used by the black people mainly as a 'blood purifier'. Patients admitted at the Ga-Rankuwa Hospital with Urginea sanguinea poisoning had clinical symptoms effecting any of the following systems: GIT, urinary, CNS or the splanchnic.