Antibiotic prescription among children with common cold at a district hospital in Uganda.

BACKGROUND: Most childhood infections are of viral origin making antibiotics unnecessary. They are, however, the most frequently prescribed drugs dispensed to children, resulting in inappropriate antibiotic prescriptions, which are one of the main drivers of antibiotic resistance. AIM: The study aimed to determine the prevalence of antibiotic prescriptions and identify its associated factors among children below 5 years with common cold who attend the outpatient department in Tororo General Hospital. SETTING: The study was carried out in Tororo General Hospital, Eastern Uganda. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey using consecutive sampling was performed among children below 5 years with common cold attending the outpatient department. Data were collected using an interviewer-administered, structured questionnaire and analysed using STATA version 14.0. Prevalence of antibiotic prescriptions was calculated. Bivariate analysis using chi-square test and multivariate analysis using logistic regression was performed to establish factors associated with antibiotic prescription. RESULTS: The prevalence of antibiotic prescriptions for common cold among children below 5 years was 23.3%. Factors associated with antibiotic prescription for common cold were duration of symptoms of more than 5 days (OR, 95% CI: 4.49; 1.16-17.23, p = 0.029) and being attended to by a clinical officer (OR, 95% CI: 0.19; 0.04-0.91, p = 0.038). CONCLUSION: There is inappropriate antibiotic prescription among children with common cold in Tororo General Hospital. There is need for antibiotic stewardship programmes to promote optimal antibiotic use in primary care facilities.Contribution: The study's findings can be used to develop context-specific antibiotic stewardship programmes tailored to promote judicious use of antibiotics in primary care.

Steady-state pharmacokinetics of rilpivirine under different meal conditions in HIV-1-infected Ugandan adults.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effect of food on the steady-state pharmacokinetics of rilpivirine when administered as a fixed-dose combination tablet containing tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, emtricitabine plus rilpivirine (TDF/FTC/RPV) in HIV-1-infected Ugandan patients. METHODS: This was an open-label, three-period, longitudinal pharmacokinetic study with patients serving as their own controls. Fifteen consenting and virologically suppressed HIV-1-infected adults were switched from an efavirenz-based regimen to TDF/FTC/RPV for 56 days. Enrolled patients underwent 24 h blood sampling with TDF/FTC/RPV dosing in the fasted state (day 42), with a low-fat meal (11 g of fat/353 kcal, day 49) and with a moderate-fat meal (19 g of fat/589 kcal, day 56; reference). A viral load assessment was performed on day 56. RESULTS: Rilpivirine AUC0-24 was significantly decreased by 16% (geometric mean ratio, 90% CI: 0.84, 0.73-0.96) during administration in the fasted state when compared with AUC0-24 during administration with a moderate-fat meal. Similarly, rilpivirine C24 was significantly decreased by 21% (0.79, 0.65-0.97) in the fasted state compared with a moderate-fat meal. Pharmacokinetic parameters were unchanged during administration with a low-fat meal, except for C24, which was significantly increased by 15% (1.15, 1.01-1.31) when compared with the moderate-fat meal. Rilpivirine Cmax was similar under the three meal conditions. Virological suppression was unchanged at the end of the study. CONCLUSIONS: A food effect was observed for steady-state pharmacokinetic parameters of rilpivirine (AUC0-24 and C24) when TDF/FTC/RPV was administered in the fasted state compared with the moderate-fat meal. The TDF/FTC/RPV formulation can be administered with either a low-fat or moderate-fat meal.