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Assessment of antimicrobial use and prescribing practices among pediatric inpatients in Zimbabwe

Ioana D Olaru1,2, Anne Meierkord1, Brian Godman3,4,5

  • 1London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Bloomsbury, London, UK.

Journal of Chemotherapy (Florence, Italy)
|March 3, 2020
PubMed

Insights

Antimicrobial drug use is high in hospitalized children in Zimbabwe, with over half of prescriptions not following national guidelines. This highlights a need for improved antimicrobial stewardship in pediatric care.

Area of Science:

  • * Infectious Diseases
  • * Public Health
  • * Pediatric Pharmacology

Background:

  • * Antimicrobial resistance is a growing global concern.
  • * Understanding antimicrobial consumption patterns is crucial for stewardship.
  • * Data on pediatric antimicrobial use in low-income countries like Zimbabwe is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

  • * To assess antimicrobial consumption in a pediatric ward in Zimbabwe.
  • * To evaluate adherence to national antimicrobial guidelines.
  • * To identify patterns of antimicrobial prescribing in hospitalized children.

Main Methods:

  • * Prospective review of clinical records for pediatric inpatients.
  • * Data collected over a 3-week period at Harare Central Hospital.
  • * Antimicrobial consumption measured as DOT/100 PD (days of therapy per 100 inpatient days).

Main Results:

  • * 121 out of 130 (93.1%) pediatric patients received antimicrobials.
  • * Overall antimicrobial consumption was 155.4 DOT/100 PD.
  • * Benzylpenicillin, gentamicin, and ceftriaxone were most common; only 57.7% of prescriptions adhered to guidelines.

Conclusions:

  • * High antimicrobial drug usage observed in hospitalized Zimbabwean children.
  • * Significant proportion of antimicrobial prescriptions were non-adherent to national guidelines.
  • * Findings indicate a need for enhanced antimicrobial stewardship programs in this setting.

Keywords:
AMRAntibiotic resistanceAntimicrobial consumptionAntimicrobial resistanceAntimicrobial stewardshipChildren

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