Screening the Efficacy of Commonly Retailed Antibiotics from Government and Private Pharmacies in Adama City, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia

Abstract

Antibiotics lose their potency with poor storage and transportation earlier than the expiry date that appears on the label. In view of the sub-standards antibiotics produced by some pharmaceutical companies and counterfeit, antibiotic resistance is becoming a public health problem in recent times for both hospital and community acquired infections. The objective of this study was to screen the efficacy of commonly retailed antibiotics from government and private pharmacies in Adama city for their efficacy in treating diseases. The study employed prospective cross-sectional study techniques and data were collected and analyzed using EPINFO version 7 and SPSS 20 software. Interview for 42 participants (pharmacist and druggist) to obtain antibiotic information using structured questionnaires. A disc diffusion antibiotic susceptibility test was used to screen a total of 162 antibiotics produced by different manufacturers (both local and foreign) purchased from government and private pharmacies against standard strain of bacteria based on the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guideline in OPHRCBQALC. This study revealed that of the total evaluated antibiotics 52.4% of amoxicillin, 66.7% of ciprofloxacillin, 31.6% of azithromycine and 100% of ceftriaxone passed efficacious test. The result of this study showed, significant association between local source and inefficacious status of amoxicillin (x2=4.7, p< 0.03). There was also statistically significant association between pharmacy ownership and efficacious of ciprofloxacillin (x2= 7.4, p< 0. 007). Therefore, government should initiate surveillance of antibiotics efficacious test to strengthen the production of good quality antibiotics, regulatory bodies should monitor antibiotics quality at dispensing area and at production site regularly and this study recommends further works on quantitative based antibiotics studies.