International journal of clinical pharmacy
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Background An infectious disease caused by a novel coronavirus (later called COVID-19) reached pandemic levels in 2020 and community pharmacists were involved in responding to this pandemic, also in Kosovo. Objectives To explore the experiences of community pharmacists in relation to provision of community pharmacy services during COVID-19 pandemic. Setting Community pharmacists in Kosovo. ⋯ The most popular means of accessing COVID-19 related information by pharmacists was via mobile devices and information from professional organizations was considered most useful by pharmacists. Conclusions Community pharmacies actively implemented various measures as precautions to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Our findings highlight the value of continuous provision of information by professional organizations and use of mobile devices as key means to access information by pharmacists.
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Background Antimicrobial resistance is cited as one of the leading causes for the increased morbidity and mortality in infectious diseases globally. Antibiotic misuse can accelerate the advent and spread of resistant antimicrobial strains and antibiotic self-medication is one of the main practices of antibiotic misuse. Even though plethora of evidence is available on antibiotic self-medication among health care providers, evidence derived from community-based studies are scarce. ⋯ Information on the use of the antibiotic and the dosage were obtained from a physician's previous prescription (60%-6/10) or a pharmacist (40%-4/10). Conclusion The study revealed a very low prevalence of antibiotic self-medication. However, continuous surveillance of retail pharmacies and training of health care providers is needed to curtail errors in the use of antibiotics.
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COVID-19, the disease associated in December 2019 with the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, was observed for the first time in China and then spread worldwide becoming pandemic. Currently, there is still no licensed specific antiviral treatment for the human coronavirus disease and a vaccine will not be ready soon. ⋯ Clinical trials for future therapies are still ongoing. In the meantime, prevention, control, active communication and investment in research are the only ways to overcome this challenge.
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Multicenter Study
Clinical characteristics and drug therapies in patients with the common-type coronavirus disease 2019 in Hunan, China.
Background Clinical characteristics of patients with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) may present differently within and outside the epicenter of Wuhan, China. More clinical investigations are needed. Objective The study was aimed to describe the clinical characteristics, laboratory parameters, and therapeutic methods of COVID-19 patients in Hunan, China. ⋯ The outcome of treatment indicated that in patients with the common-type COVID-19, interferon-α2b, but not novaferon, had some benefits, antibiotics treatment was not needed, and corticosteroids should be used cautiously. Conclusion As of February 10, 2020, the symptoms of COVID-19 patients in Hunan province were relatively mild comparing to patients in Wuhan, the epicenter. We observed some treatment benefits with interferon-α2b and corticosteroid therapies but not with novaferon and antibiotic treatment in our study population.
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Background Inhaled or nasal corticosteroids can cause suppression of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Early detection is important because this suppression can be associated with significant morbidity. Objective To explore the adverse effect of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal suppression by local corticosteroids in HIV-infected patients. ⋯ In this study we did not identify HPA axis suppression in patients taking CYP3A4 inhibitors. This may be related to the fact that 2 of these 4 patients used beclomethasone, a corticosteroid not metabolized by CYP3A4. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT02501486.