Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Medicine, Tirana, Tirana, Albania; Focal Point of Antimicrobial Consumption, Ministry of Health, Tirana, Albania.
Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Medicine, Tirana, Tirana, Albania.
J Glob Antimicrob Resist. 2018 Jun;13:240-245. doi: 10.1016/j.jgar.2018.01.019. Epub 2018 Feb 4.
Irrational use of antibiotics is a major driver of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), exacerbated by dispensing of antibiotics without a prescription especially for typically viral infections. Such dispensing is common despite legislation. Pharmacists play a key role in advising on medicines, especially in countries where most patients seek pharmacist help as they cannot afford both physician fees and medicines. Consequently, our objective was to ascertain pharmacists' skills and knowledge regarding antibiotics when patients present to them with typically viral infections.
This was a qualitative cross-sectional survey among 370 community pharmacists in Albania, with carefully selected and validated topics. The main outcome measure was knowledge of antibiotics and current legislation.
Variable knowledge regarding antibiotics among community pharmacists. 55% knew colds are caused by viruses and 93% that antibiotics are ineffective against influenza. However, 18% believed if colds last >4 days an antibiotic can bring a patient back to work, and only 13% stated antibiotics are ineffective against viruses. Encouragingly, 93% knew penicillins can cause anaphylactic shock, 74% that antibiotics kill bacteria causing infections, and only 7% that antibiotic misuse cannot cause AMR. However, 13% stated the main disadvantage of antibiotics is that they are ineffective against viruses and 93% admitted they had no treatment protocols to consult in their daily work to direct patient care.
Encouraging signs regarding pharmacists' knowledge of antibiotics in Albania; however, concerns. Instigating educational programmes among patients and pharmacists and greater enforcement of legislation should reduce AMR rates in Albania and across countries.
抗生素的不合理使用是导致抗菌药物耐药性（AMR）的主要因素，尤其是在没有处方的情况下开出处方抗生素，尤其是针对典型的病毒感染。尽管有立法规定，但这种处方情况很常见。药剂师在提供药物咨询方面发挥着关键作用，尤其是在大多数患者因无法负担医生费用和药物费用而寻求药剂师帮助的国家。因此，我们的目的是确定当患者因典型的病毒感染而就诊时，药剂师在抗生素方面的技能和知识。
这是在阿尔巴尼亚的 370 名社区药剂师中进行的一项定性横断面调查，采用了精心选择和验证的主题。主要观察指标是对抗生素的知识和当前法规的了解。
社区药剂师对抗生素的知识存在差异。55%的药剂师知道感冒是由病毒引起的，93%的药剂师知道抗生素对流感无效。然而，18%的药剂师认为，如果感冒持续超过 4 天，抗生素可以让患者恢复工作，只有 13%的药剂师表示抗生素对病毒无效。令人鼓舞的是，93%的药剂师知道青霉素会引起过敏性休克，74%的药剂师知道抗生素可以杀死引起感染的细菌，只有 7%的药剂师认为抗生素的滥用不会导致 AMR。然而，13%的药剂师表示抗生素的主要缺点是对病毒无效，93%的药剂师承认他们在日常工作中没有治疗方案可以参考，以指导患者的护理。
阿尔巴尼亚药剂师对抗生素知识的认识有令人鼓舞的迹象，但也存在一些问题。在患者和药剂师中开展教育计划，并加强法规的执行，应该可以降低阿尔巴尼亚和其他国家的 AMR 发生率。
