My name is Pharm. Nafisa Ibrahim Babba (Pharm D), born on September 7, 1998, graduated as a doctor of pharmacy with a high interest in improving health and well-being. I have participated in the West African Society for Pharmacology Conference. I am currently working as an intern hospital pharmacist. I am a passionate learner and an aspiring researcher in various fields, including drug development.
Background: The worsening of antibiotic resistance is a multifactorial process. One aspect of this is the counterfeiting of antibiotic medications.There is a growing concern about the potency of drugs sold around the world. Antibiotics are the most counterfeited drug products worldwide. This is supposed to be particularly high in developing countries, including Nigeria. However, the WHO committee for the review of medicines emphasizes a continued surveillance check even after marketing or at the dispensing point.
Objective: His study was designed to assess the potency of some parenteral antibacterials dispensed in some community pharmacy outlets in Gwale LGA.
Method: Accordingly, 12 brands of four different classes of intravenous (IV) antibacterials, namely Ceftriaxone (30µg), Gentamicin (10µg), Ciprofloxacin (10µg), and Metronidazole (10µg), were sampled from various registered pharmacies in the study area. Levels of antibacterial activities that measure potencies were tested using disc diffusion techniques against a 0.5 McFarland standard ATCC drug-susceptible E. coli (25923), S. aureus (25922), and a wild local isolate of C. tetani. The susceptibility of some clinical isolates (CI) with a view to checking resistance tendency was also evaluated.
Results:The drugs originated from Nigerian manufacturers at 17%, India at 33%, and China at 50%. The IV Ciprofloxacin, ceftriaxone, gentamicin, and metronidazole investigated were all potent based on their comparative performance on ATCC isolates on the basis of CLSI 2021, with their zones of inhibition in the range of 17-36mm, 20-38mm, 21-26mm, and 19-26mm, respectively. The gross inactivity of the drugs on the clinical isolates used was seen. This may be accounted for by resistance tendencies against the drug samples.
Conclusion:It can therefore be concluded that the drug samples were potent in concordance with standard regulatory agency provisions, although evidence of resistance to them was observed among clinical isolates.