Antibiotics utilization during the war period: influence of drug donations

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the antibiotics utilization in the University Hospital Center of Rijeka (UHC), with capacity of 1566 beds, during the period of 4 years (1990-1994). The data concerning the antibiotics utilization were collected from a hospital pharmacy record and calculated as the defined daily dose (DDD) per 100 bed days. Total antibiotics use decreased continually from 1990 through 1994. According to our study, metronidazole became the most frequently prescribed antibiotic. Comparing the 1994 to the 1990 antibiotics utilization, we may notice an outstanding decrease in cotimoxazole, ampicillin and cefalexin utilization and an increase in amoxicillin + clavulanic acid, gentamycin and cefuroxime (there are no tetracyclines among the 10 most frequently prescribed antibiotics). The changes noticed in the use of antibiotics are partly caused by changes in therapeutic principles, but we consider drug donations as the most important factor. Drug donations have retained the treatment quality of our patients in very difficult conditions in Croatia during the war period.