Irrational use of antimalarial drugs in rural areas of eastern Pakistan: a random field study.
Background: Prescription of antimalarial drugs in the absence of malarial disease is a common practice in countries where malaria is endemic. However, unwarranted use of such drugs can cause side effects in some people and is a financial drain on local economies. In this study, we surveyed the preva...
| Publicado en: | BMC Public Health Vol. 12; no. 1; pp. 941 - 942 |
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| Autores principales: | , , , , , , |
| Formato: | research Journal Article |
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BioMed Central
2012
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=104237403&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ccm uiTerm: 104237403 longDbName: CINAHL Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: dissinfo: jinfo: jid: 14712458 1CIK jtl: BMC Public Health issn: 14712458 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: 2012 vid: 12 iid: 1 pid: 24147 pub: BioMed Central artinfo: ui: 104237403 104237403 NLM23116148 2012014306 10.1186/1471-2458-12-941 NLM23116148 PMC3577451 104237403 ppf: 941 ppct: 1 formats: tig: atl: Irrational use of antimalarial drugs in rural areas of eastern Pakistan: a random field study. aug: au: Khan, Shafaat Yar Khan, Ahmad Arshad, Muhammad Tahir, Hafiz Muhammad Mukhtar, Muhammad Khalid Ahmad, Khawaja Raees Arshad, Najma affil: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Sargodha, Sargodha, Pakistan. shafaatyarkhan@hotmail.com. sug: subj: Antimalarials Therapeutic Use Malaria Epidemiology Prescriptions, Drug Statistics and Numerical Data Rural Health Services Antimalarials Economics Disease Vectors Female Health Services Research Human Malaria Male Mosquitoes Pakistan Prescriptions, Drug Economics Prevalence Female Male ab: Background: Prescription of antimalarial drugs in the absence of malarial disease is a common practice in countries where malaria is endemic. However, unwarranted use of such drugs can cause side effects in some people and is a financial drain on local economies. In this study, we surveyed the prevalence of malaria parasites in humans, and the prevalence of the malaria transmitting mosquito vectors in the study area. We also investigated the use of antimalarial drugs in the local people. We focused on randomly selected rural areas of eastern Pakistan where no malaria cases had been reported since May 2004.Methods: Mass blood surveys, active case detection, passive case detection, and vector density surveys were carried out in selected areas of Sargodha district from September 2008 to August 2009. Data pertaining to the quantities and types of antimalarial drugs used in these areas were collected from health centers, pharmacies, and the district CDC program of the Health Department of the Government of the Punjab.Results: Seven hundred and forty four blood samples were examined, resulting in a Blood Examination Rate (BER) of 3.18; microscopic analysis of blood smears showed that none of the samples were positive for malaria parasites. Investigation of the mosquito vector density in 43 living rooms (bedrooms or rooms used for sleeping), 23 stores, and 32 animal sheds, revealed no vectors capable of transmitting malaria in these locations. In contrast, the density of Culex mosquitoes was high. Substantial consumption of a variety of antimalarial tablets, syrups, capsules and injections costing around 1000 US$, was documented for the region.Conclusion: Use of antimalarial drugs in the absence of malarial infection or the vectors that transmit the disease was common in the study area. Continuous use of such drugs, not only in Pakistan, but in other parts of the world, may lead to drug-induced side effects amongst users. Better training of health care professionals is needed to ensure accurate diagnoses of malaria and appropriate prescription of antimalarial drugs delivered to communities. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: research Journal Article ougenre: Article language: English refInfo: holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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