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Antibiotic Overuse in Tx of Acute Diarrhea

Adv Med; ePub 2018 May 2; Tulu, et al

High overuse of antibiotics for both adults and children aged <5 years is common, according to a recent study. The institution-based, cross-sectional study was conducted from April 1 to April 20, 2016 with data collected retrospectively from patients treated for diarrheal diseases from January 2015 to December 2015. Researchers found:

  • 303 patients were included (51.2% male, 48.8% female; 62.0% children aged <5 years).
  • 263 (86.8%) patients received 8 different types of antibiotics, with cotrimoxazole most often prescribed.
  • Based on the presence of blood in stools, 14.5% of cases were invasive bacterial type.
  • The rate of overuse of antibiotics was 72.3%, based on World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations.

Citation:

Tulu S, Tadesse T, Alemayehu Gube A. Assessment of antibiotic utilization pattern in treatment of acute diarrhea diseases in Bishoftu General Hospital, Oromia Ethiopia. [Published online ahead of print May 2, 2018]. Adv Med. doi:10.1155/2018/2376825.