Irrational use of antibiotics in paediatric prescriptions: A pilot study at community pharmacy in Erode City

Children and infants are the most susceptible group toward various diseases than adults due to under development of immune system. Paediatric healthcare providers face huge challenges in day to day practice due to lack of knowledge about the appropriate drugs. Most paediatric prescriptions carries antibiotics which has become a routine practice in the treatment of common paediatric illnesses which were not caused by bacteria and leads to irrational use of antibiotics which significantly contributes to antibiotic resistance, side effects and cost of the therapy. In general, drug utilization studies are carried out to identify appropriate usage of drugs in terms of medical, social and economic aspects. Similarly, the present study was conducted in seven randomly selected potential community pharmacies with an aim to determine the proportion common paediatric illnesses in and around Erode city and rational use of antibiotics for the same. Study results have shown that the cold and its related ailments were predominant paediatric illnesses followed by diarrhea and its related ailments. All paediatric prescriptions carried antibiotics and found to be irrational except few prescriptions. Paediatric healthcare providers should implement the standard treatment guidelines developed by appropriate authorities to provide quality service by preventing irrational use of antibiotic/ drugs.