Assessment of use of World Health Organization access, watch, reserve antibiotics and core prescribing indicators in pediatric outpatients in a tertiary care teaching hospital in Eastern India

Antibiotic susceptibility profile of Pseudomonas species isolated from clinical specimens to access, watch and reserve drugs across various hospital settings at a tertiary care hospital of central India

Background and Objectives

Over the last decade, hospital-acquired infections, particularly in the critical care setting, have become more common, with Gram-negative bacterial infections having the highest prevalence. This study aims to determine the prevalence and antibiotic susceptibility pattern of Pseudomonas species to WHO's, aware class of antibiotics, which are commonly prescribed across various ICU's, medical and surgical wards of our tertiary care teaching hospital.

Materials and Methods

This prospective study conducted from January 2021 to June 2022 at a tertiary care centre of central India identified Pseudomonas species from clinical samples using standard procedures and antimicrobial susceptibility testing performed as per Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guidelines (M100; 32th Edition).

Results

A total of 1490 non duplicate Pseudomonas species isolates were grown from 21,019 culture positive clinical samples, of which 1247 were Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Out of these 1247 Pseudomonas aeruginosa 384 were MDR (30.7%). Pseudomonas aeruginosa were most commonly isolated from the pus samples (85%). ICU isolates were significantly more resistant to antibiotics than those from other units. P. aeruginosa strains from ICUs showed the highest rates of resistance to ceftazidime (93.9%). Reserve drug colistin showed good susceptibility (98.2%). All the 18 colistin resistant strains were found to be negative for plasmid mediated mcr-1,2,3 genes.

Conclusion

The study shall help to generate and disseminate the data so that proper antibiotic policy can be made for judicious use of Access, Watch and Reserve antibiotics and antibiotic de-escalation plan can be put forth.

Antibiotic and antifungal use in paediatric departments at three academic hospitals in South Africa

Objectives

South Africa implemented a National Strategic Framework to optimise antimicrobial stewardship in 2014; however, there is limited data on how this has affected prescribing, especially to children treated in academic centres.

Methods

We conducted a point prevalence survey using the World Health Organization (WHO) methodology to evaluate antibiotic and antifungal prescribing practices in paediatric departments at three academic hospitals in South Africa.

Results

We recorded 1946 antimicrobial prescriptions in 1191 children, with 55.2% and 39.2% of the antibiotics classified as WHO AWaRe Access and Watch drugs, respectively. There were significant differences in prescription of Reserve antibiotics and antifungals between institutions. Receipt of WHO Watch and Reserve antibiotics was independently associated with infancy (<12 months) and adolescents (13-17 years) (adjusted relative risk [aRR]: 2.09-9.95); prolonged hospitalisation (aRR: 3.29-30.08); rapidly or ultimately fatal illness (aRR: 1.94 to 5.52); and blood transfusion (aRR: 3.28-5.70). Antifungal prescribing was associated with treatment of hospital-associated infection (aRR: 2.90), medical prophylaxis (aRR: 3.30), and treatment in intensive care units (aRR: 2.15-2.27).

Conclusions

Guidance on optimisation of infection prevention and control practice and strengthening of antimicrobial stewardship would impact positively on the care of sick children in our setting.

Evaluating drug use patterns among paediatric outpatients in Burundi

Background

Rational prescribing is key to optimising therapeutic outcomes and avoiding risks associated with irrational use of medicines. Using WHO drug use indicators, this study evaluated drug use patterns among paediatric outpatient encounters at Primary Healthcare Centers (PHCs) in Bujumbura Mairie, Republic of Burundi.

Methods

Descriptive cross-sectional research assessed paediatric medicine use in 20 PHCs. From 8 February to 7 April 2023, 800 randomly selected paediatric encounters' 2022-year data were retrospectively collected. Data for specific facility indicators were prospectively collected. SPSS 23 was used to analyse data.

Results

800 outpatient child encounters were analysed, 48.4% female and 51.6% male. The mean number of medicines per encounter was 2.4(±0.99). The injection rate was 9.9%. Overall, 78.8% of generics and 85.2% of essential medicines were prescribed. Results show drug prescribing differences between private and government PHCs (p < 0.001). All PHCs studied had no standard treatment guidelines (STGs), while 50% had an essential medicine list (EML) and 85% of key medicines were available.

Conclusion

Poor prescribing practices were found indicating the need for interventions to promote good drug use practices. A large study at a national scale is required to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the overall drug use practices.