Antibiotic prescribing in pediatrics

Introduction: Antibiotics (ATBs) account for a large proportion of drug prescriptions in children. Aim: To assess the quality of antibiotic prescribing in children under 5 years of age in the pediatric wards of 6 health services in Bamako. Method: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study designed to assess the quality of antibiotic prescribing in children under 5 years of age over a two-week period in each department. Our study took place in 6 pediatric units in Bamako (Mali) and involved 481 prescriptions. Results: In this study 54% of patients were male with a sex ratio of 1.17. Of the 481 prescriptions the majority bore the prescriber's name and stamp (96.6%). General practitioners were the prescribers in 28% of cases. Ceftriaxone was the most prescribed antibiotic overall with 37.6% followed by Amoxicillin with 28% and gentamicin with 21.6%.