Pre-hospital Consumption of Antibiotics in Children Admitted to the Pediatric Ward of CHU Tambohobe Fianarantsoa

Introduction: Antibiotic consumption is on the rise; this increases the risk of bacterial resistance which represents a public health threat with an increasing number of therapeutic impasses. The objective of our study is to evaluate the pre-hospital consumption of antibiotics in children admitted to the pediatric service of CHU-Tambohobe Fianarantsoa. Method: This is a prospective cross-sectional study during a period of 6 months in the pediatric department of the CHU-Tambohobe Fianarantsoa; including all children admitted with antibiotics before their hospitalization. Results: We included 105 cases, i.e. 27.5% of hospitalized patients. The age of our patients ranged from 0 to 180 months with a median age of 24 months. The infectious sites for which antibiotics were prescribed were predominantly respiratory [27.6%] and ENT [24.5%]. Self-medication was used in 11.4% of cases, and 88.6% had consulted a health centre, 76% of whose prescribers were doctors. The antibiotic used was not adapted to the infection site in 54.3% of cases, and the dose was insufficient in 48.27%. The most prescribed antibiotic was Amoxicillin in 37.9% of cases, followed by Cotrimoxazole in 15.9%. The evolution was marked by the absence of improvement which motivated the hospitalization of the child. Conclusion: Our study showed an inappropriate pre-hospital consumption of antibiotics. Continuous training on the correct prescription of antibiotics as well as the implementation of antibiotic therapy protocols are necessary.