PGIMER study reveals overuse of antibiotics in children

STUDY CONDUCTED IN PUBLIC HEALTH CENTRES OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA SAYS 80% CHILDREN SUFFERING FROM DIARRHOEA WERE GIVEN ANTIBIOTICS

A recent study conducted by doctors from the School of Public Health, Postgraduate Institute of Medical education and Research (PGIMER), raises concern about the overuse of antibiotics in children suffering from diarrhoea and upper respiratory tract infection.

The study conducted in 80 public health centres (PHCs) of Punjab and Haryana has found that 80% children suffering from diarrhoea were given antibiotics, whereas the ideal rate is around 20%.

“High incidence of antibiotic prescription in cases of illnesses such as upper respiratory tract infection or diarrhoea is an urgent public health and patient safety priority. Such overuse of antibiotics causes avoidable adverse events, contributes to antibiotic resistance, and unnecessary treatment costs. The present study reveals higher antibiotic prescription rates than the ideal rates (20.0%–26.8%),” mentions the report of the study.

The ‘Drug prescription behaviour: A cross-sectional study in public health facilities in two states of North India,” has been conducted by Dr Jaya Prasad Tripathy, Dr Pankaj Bahuguna and Dr Shankar Prinja.

The study was carried out in 80 public health facilities across 12 districts of Haryana and Punjab (6 in each). Overall, within each state, 1 tertiary care medical college, 6 district hospitals, 11 community health centres (CHCs), and 22 primary health centres were selected for the study

A total of 1,609 prescriptions were analysed with 877 and 732 prescriptions in Haryana and Punjab. Most of the prescriptions were from the PHCs (51.0%), followed by the CHCs (28.7%). On an average, 2.2 drugs were prescribed per patient.

Out of the total prescriptions analysed, 69% prescriptions had drugs from the EDL (essential drug list) only, whereas 25% of them had some drugs from the EDL and another 5% of them had no drugs out of the EDL.