Antibiotic for Pediatric: What do you need to know.

Antibiotics are medicines used to treat infection and they target bacteria, not viruses. Before prescribing an antibiotic, your child's doctor will find out if it is the right medicine to treat your child's infection. Parents need to know that using antibiotics when they are not the right medicine will not help and may even cause harm to children.

Read on for answers from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) to common questions about the use of antibiotics. T

1.  My child has a really bad cold. Why won't the doctor prescribe an antibiotic?  

Colds are caused by viruses. Antibiotics are used specifically for infections caused by bacteria. In general, most common cold symptoms—such as runny nose, cough, and congestion—are mild and your child will get better without using any medicines. 

2.  Don't some colds turn into bacterial infections? So why wait to start an antibiotic?  

In most cases, bacterial infections do not follow viral infections. Using antibiotics to treat viral infections may instead lead to an infection caused by resistant bacteria. Also, your child may develop diarrhea or other side effects. If your child develops watery diarrhea, diarrhea with blood in it, or other side effects while taking an antibiotic, call your child's doctor. 

3.  Isn't a nose draining yellow or green mucus a sign of a bacterial infection?  

During a common cold, it is normal for mucus from the nose to get thick and to change from clear to yellow or green. Symptoms often last for 10 days.
Sinusitis is a term that means inflammation of the lining of the nose and sinuses. A virus or allergy can cause sinusitis and in some cases, bacteria can be the cause.
There are certain signs that bacteria may be involved in your child's respiratory illness. If your child has a common cold with cough and green mucus that lasts longer than 10 days, or if your child has thick yellow or green mucus and a fever higher than 102°F (39°C) for at least 3 or 4 days, this may be a sign of bacterial sinusitis.
If your child has developed bacterial sinusitis (which is uncommon), an antibiotic may be needed. Before an antibiotic is prescribed, your child's doctor will ask about other signs and examine your child to make sure an antibiotic is the right medicine. 

4.  Aren't antibiotics supposed to treat ear infections?  

Not all ear infections are treated with antibiotics. At least half of all ear infections go away without antibiotics. If your child does not have a high fever or severe ear pain, your child's doctor may recommend observation initially.
Because pain is often the first and most uncomfortable symptom of ear infection, your child's doctor will suggest pain medicine to ease your child's pain. Acetaminophen and ibuprofen are over-the-counter pain medicines that may help lessen much of the pain. Be sure to use the right dose for your child's age and size. In most cases, pain and fever will improve within the first 1 to 2 days.
There are also ear drops that may help ear pain for a short time. You can ask your child's doctor if your child should use these drops. Over-the-counter cold medicines (decongestants and antihistamines) don't help clear up ear infections and are not recommended for young children.
Your child's doctor may prescribe antibiotics if your child has fever that is increasing, more severe ear pain, and infection in both eardrums. 

5.  Aren't antibiotics used to treat all sore throats?  

​​No. More than 80% of sore throats are caused by a virus. If your child has sore throat, runny nose, and a barky cough, a virus is the likely cause and a test for "strep" is not needed and should not be performed.
Antibiotics should only be used to treat sore throats caused by group A streptococci. Infection caused by this type of bacteria is called "strep throat." Strep throat generally affects school-aged children and not children younger than 3 years.
If your child's doctor suspects strep throat based on your child's symptoms, a strep test should always be performed. If the test is positive, antibiotics will be prescribed. 

6.  Do antibiotics cause any side effects?  

Side effects can occur in 1 out of every 10 children who take an antibiotic. Side effects may include rashes, allergic reactions, nausea, diarrhea, and stomach pain. Make sure you let your child's doctor know if your child has had a reaction to antibiotics.
Sometimes a rash will occur during the time a child is taking an antibiotic. However, not all rashes are considered allergic reactions. Tell your child's doctor if you see a rash that looks like hives (red welts); this may be an allergic reaction. If your child has an allergic reaction that causes an itchy rash, or hives, this will be noted in her medical record. 

7.  How long does it take an antibiotic to work?  

Most bacterial infections improve within 48 to 72 hours of starting an antibiotic. If your child's symptoms get worse or do not improve within 72 hours, call your child's doctor. If your child stops taking the antibiotic too soon, the infection may not be treated completely and the symptoms may start again. 

8.  Can antibiotics lead to resistant bacteria?  

The repeated use and misuse of antibiotics can lead to resistant bacteria. Resistant bacteria are bacteria that are no longer killed by the antibiotics commonly used to treat bacterial infection. These resistant bacteria can also be spread to other children and adults.
It is important that your child use the antibiotic that is most specific for your child's infection rather than an antibiotic that would treat a broader range of infections. 
If your child does develop an antibiotic-resistant infection, a special type of antibiotic may be needed. Sometimes, these medicines need to be given by IV (vein) in the hospital. 

9.  What are antiviral medicines?  

​Influenza (flu) is a viral infection that can cause cold symptoms for which an antiviral medicine will work. An antiviral medicine may be prescribed for children that are at higher risk of becoming severely ill if they get the flu. For most other viruses causing cough and cold symptoms, there are no antiviral medicines that work or are recommended. 

10.  How can I use antibiotics safely?

• Antibiotics aren't always the answer when your child is sick. Ask your child's doctor what the best treatment is for your child.
• Ask your child's doctor if the antibiotic being prescribed is the best for your child's type of bacterial infection. For instance, certain antibiotics such as azithromycin are no longer effective for the bacteria causing most ear and sinus infections.
• Antibiotics work against bacterial infections. They don't work on colds and flu.
• Make sure that you give the medicine exactly as directed.
• Don't use one child's antibiotic for a sibling or friend; you may give the wrong medicine and cause harm.
• Throw away unused antibiotics. Do not save antibiotics for later use; some out-of-date medicines can actually be harmful. 

Source

Antibiotics and Your Child (Copyright © 2010 American Academy of Pediatrics, Updated 05/2014)

Drug Information Services: The Answer to Your Drug-Related Questions

Drug Information Services: The Answer to Your Drug-Related Questions

 

Patient counseling at the pharmacy counter is an acquired skill. Yes, filling prescriptions accurately and expeditiously is paramount to the community pharmacy profession; however, assuring that the patient understands the therapy is just as critical.
Without a discussion with the pharmacist, the patient leaves the pharmacy with nothing more than the directions on the label and the consumer medication information flyer that may or may not make it into the patient's prescription bag.

Pharmacists play a vital role in the health care system through the medicine and information they provide.

Although drug information(DI) is readily available in books and drug databases accessed via the Internet or personal digital assistants, there are still some situations in which verbal communication with a knowledgeable source is often the quickest strategy for answering clinical questions about medications. A noncommercial, pharmacist-operated drug information service can be a useful information alternative that offers a personalized approach.

The primary goal of a drug information service is to improve patient care by providing objective and unbiased information for drug-related questions. Drug information services are facilities or personnel dedicated to and specializing in the provision of written or oral information about drugs and pharmacotherapy, in response to a request from other health care professionals, organizations, committees, or patients. A drug information expert can estimate how much time may be necessary to perform the research, consider the urgency of the requestor, and prioritize requests. There is no special accreditation or licensing for drug information services; it is the pharmacist who is licensed.

One resource that provides an excellent guide to patient counseling is the ASHP Guidelines on Pharmacist-Conducted Patient Education and Counseling. This document was developed specifically to help pharmacists provide effective patient education and counseling.

 

 

Drug Information Activities

 

To be an effective provider of DI, the pharmacist must exercise excellent oral and written communication skills and be able to

1. Anticipate and evaluate the DI needs of patients and health care professionals;
2. Obtain appropriate and complete background information as described under the section  

Systematic Approach for Responding to Drug InformationRequests;
3. Use a systematic approach to address DI needs by effectively searching, retrieving, and

critically evaluating the literature (i.e., assessment of study design, statistics,bias, limitations,   

applicability); and
4. Appropriately synthesize, communicate, document, and apply pertinent information to the

patient care situation

Answering Drug Information Questions

 

These are the steps you should go through when you are asked a question:

•Step 1: Identify the requester. This will help you get an idea of the depth and detail of information the requester is probably expecting.

•Step 2: Determine and categorize the “real” question. It is remarkably common for the question you are asked to not be the requester’s “real” question. Determining the true question involves answering the question with some questions.     

•Step 3: Choose an appropriate resource (or resources) to consult.

 

Initially, as I approach the pharmacy counseling counter, I ask patients whether they are familiar with the medication their doctor has prescribed, how they are going to take it, and what it is being used for specifically. This is an important step in order to assess the patient's current knowledge of the therapy.
I have developed a simple acronym that helps keep me focused while providing a patient medication counseling session. We all need some sort of tool to help us remember to cover all of the important medication counseling aspects of the specific drug. The acronym I use is DRUG, and it goes as follows:
Dosage: I discuss the dose of the medication, how it should be taken, any specific dosage timing issues, and what to do if the patient misses a dose.
Results: What should the patient expect while taking this medication? How is the drug working in the body, and how can the patient tell if the medication is working? It is also important for the patient to understand the consequences of nonadherence.
Underlying Issues: I present potential issues that the patient needs to be aware of when taking the medication, including:

         Does this medication have any Black Box Warnings?

         Is t patient allergic to this medication?

         Is the patient taking any other medications that may interact with this medication?

          Does his medication have any specific alcohol, grapefruit, or sun sensitivity warnings?

 Does this medication have an effect on any other disease states that the patient may    have?

          Are there any special precautions with the elderly, young, pregnant, or breast feeding patients?

          Are there any other medication specific cautions or precautions that should be discussed?

         General information:  Assess the patient's understanding of the above information. Discuss how to properly store the medication, what to do about refills, how to dispose of unused meds, and assure that the patient knows who to call for questions.

         Speaking as a community pharmacist, many patients rely on us for medication information and education. Therefore, we need to stay current on our understanding of the important counseling topics with each and every medication we dispense, and it is our duty to maintain our skills as patient educators so that we may convey such information in an appropriate manner to our patients.

Source :

 ASHP Guidelines on Pharmacist-Conducted Patient Education and Counseling

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Pharmacist: What they do??

Do You Ever Wonder
What Pharmacists
Even Do ? 

Pharmacists are medication experts, responsible to patients for achieving the best medication treatment outcomes at the same time assuring cost-effective and safe therapy.

Pharmacists working with health care teams advise other health professionals on the proper dose, availability, side effects and monitoring parameters for effective medication usage. In some settings pharmacists work independently or within collaborative practice agreements to manage patients’ drug therapy.


Pharmacy is not just about filling prescriptions.  it is about promoting health awareness and contributing to the betterment of the community.


Pharmacists are responsible for:

prepare or supervise the dispensing of medicines, ointments and tablets

advise patients on how their medicines are to be taken or used in the safest and most effective way in the treatment of common ailments

advise members of the public and other health professionals about medicines (both prescription and over-the-counter medicines), including appropriate selection, dosage and drug interactions, potential side effects and therapeutic effects

select, give advice on and supply non-prescription medicine, sickroom supplies and other products

develop legally recognised standards, and advise on government controls and regulations   

     concerning the manufacture and supply of medicines

work in the research and development of medicines and other health-related products

be involved in the management of pharmaceutical companies.

Community pharmacists dispense prescriptions, provide advice on drug selection and usage to doctors and other health professionals, primary healthcare advice and support, and educating customers on health promotion, disease prevention and the proper use of medicines..


Hospital pharmacists  operate as part of a healthcare team and are involved in monitoring medication usage, counseling patients, providing drug information and advice to health professionals and the community, conducting clinical trials and preparing products for patient use. They usually have a lot of contact with other health professionals and members of the public.


Industrial pharmacists undertake research and the development, manufacture, testing, analysis and marketing of pharmaceutical and medical products.


Pharmacist aren't just vendor who hand you your pills from behind the counter.

Pharmacists: They Do More Than Fill Prescriptions