Introduction: Malaria ranks among the top three leading causes of morbidity and mortality in developing countries. Appropriate use of recommended antimalarial drugs is vital in the effective management of malaria.
Methodology: This study sought to assess the prescribing trend of antimalarial drugs at the Ghana Police Hospital. Antimalarial drug prescribing trends from 3,127 patient cards were assessed at the pharmacy unit of the hospital between December 2012 and May 2013 using modified World Health Organization rational drug prescribing indicators.
Results: Of the 6,697 drugs assessed from the patient cards, antimalarial drugs prescribed included artemether-lumefantrine, 4,226 (63.1%), artemether injection with artemether-lumefantrine tablets, 1,741 (26%), artesunate injection, 241 (3.6%), artemether injection, 194 (2.9%), and artesunate-amodiaquine tablets, 188 (2.8%). The average number of drugs prescribed per encounter was 2.1. A total of 4,052 (60.5%) drugs were prescribed by their generic names, and 2,645 (39.5%) were prescribed by their brand names. There were 2,250 (33.6%) encounters with injection (33.6%), and 6,001 (89.6%) of the prescribed drugs were from the essential drugs list. Prescriptions conforming to recommended dosage regimen totaled 6,328 (94.5%).
Conclusion: The antimalarial prescribing pattern at the hospital was generally satisfactory. However, the use of injectable antimalarials appeared to be high.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
---|---|
http://dx.doi.org/10.3855/jidc.5578 | DOI Listing |
Lupus
January 2025
Department of Autoimmune Diseases, Reference Centre for Systemic Autoimmune Diseases, Vasculitis and Autoinflammatory Diseases of the Catalan and Spanish Health Systems, Member of the European Reference Centres (ERN) Re-CONNET and RITA, Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
Background: Hydroxychloroquine is recommended for all patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) because of its efficacy and safety. Previous studies of antimalarial toxicity under non-experimental conditions have often grouped hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine. This study focuses on the long-term toxicity of antimalarial drugs in SLE patients at a single reference centre.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFClin Rheumatol
January 2025
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, No. 1 Shuaifuyuan, Beijing, 100730, China.
To synthesize available evidence on predictive factors associated with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) flares during pregnancy, we systematically searched MEDLINE, Embase, and the Cochrane Library through January 2024 for observational studies on risk and protective factors of SLE flares during pregnancy. Odds ratios (OR) and mean differences (MD), as well as their 95% confidence intervals (CI) were used to quantify effect sizes. We employed fixed-effect or random-effect models based on heterogeneity assessments (I statistics).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Dermatolog Treat
December 2025
Institute for Health Services Research in Dermatology and Nursing (IVDP), University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), Hamburg, Germany.
Purpose: Dupilumab is a widely recommended treatment for moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis (AD), with known ocular side effects but less frequent cutaneous reactions.
Material And Methods: This case report details a 52-year-old female patient with atopic dermatitis treated with dupilumab. After an initially successful treatment, the patient developed a rosacea-like dermatitis.
J Biomed Opt
February 2025
National Institute of Standards and Technology, Applied Physics Division, Boulder, Colorado, United States.
Significance: Developments of anti-gametocyte drugs have been delayed due to insufficient understanding of gametocyte biology. We report a systematic workflow of data processing algorithms to quantify changes in the absorption spectrum and cell morphology of single malaria-infected erythrocytes. These changes may serve as biomarkers instrumental for the future development of antimalarial strategies, especially for anti-gametocyte drug design and testing.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMalar J
January 2025
PATH, 2201 Westlake Ave Ste 200, Seattle, WA, 98121, USA.
Background: The World Health Organization conditionally recommends reactive drug administration to reduce malaria transmission in settings approaching elimination. However, few studies have evaluated the impact of reactive focal drug administration (rFDA) in sub-Saharan Africa, and none have evaluated it under programmatic conditions. In 2016, Senegal's national malaria control programme introduced rFDA, the presumptive treatment of compound members of a person with confirmed malaria, and reactive mass focal drug administration (rMFDA), an expanded effort including neighbouring compounds during an outbreak, in 10 low transmission districts in the north of the country.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!