Biomedical Research

Upper Respiratory Tract Infections (URTIs) constitute the most common type of acute infections among children. Administration of antibiotics is the standard treatment option for most of the URTIs. However, antibiotics may be misused or overused in the URTIs treatment. The main objective of this observational study is to assess the drug utilization patterns in the treatment of URTIs among children referred to the pediatric of Najran University Hospital, Najran, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The subjects of the study consisted of 370 children of both genders (male and female) aged 0-14 y old who were referred to the out-patient department of the Hospital during July to November 2015. The most common prescribed antibiotic was azithromycin (38.66%), followed by cefixime (24.16%), and amoxicillin in combination with clavulanic acid (15.61%). Among the various drugs administered for the treatment of URTIs, analgesic and antipyretics (30.27%) were the most common class of drug, followed by the antihistamines (27.83%), expectorant (19.18%) and nasal decongestants (5.67%). The findings extended our understanding to optimize the rational use of medications for URTIs in paediatric and helped to establish the prescribing pattern.

Author(s): Saad Ahmed Alkahtani
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