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Drug utilization in the in-patient setting can provide mechanisms to assess drug prescribing trends, efficiency and cost-effectiveness of hospital formularies and examine sub-populations such as children for which prescribing habits are different from adults. Objectives: The aim of this descriptive study was to analyze general medication utilization patterns and costs excluding antimicrobials prescriptions and to compare two pediatric admission units in a tertiary care university hospital. Methods: The total number of admitted children was 1,521 and 1,467 for the A and B admission units, respectively. The electronic data from 252 and 253 hospitalized children in the A and B admission unit were prospectively screened for general medication prescriptions, children on antimicrobials were excluded from the analysis. Their electronic charts were viewed once weekly from October 15, 2007 up to April 7, 2008 using the prescription-point prevalence method. One medication was considered to be one prescription. Results: The general medications prescription number was 790 for 94 children (8.4 prescription/patient) in A and 959 for 88 children (10.9 prescription/patient) in B (p=0.02). The general medications defined daily dose (DDD) and drug utilization 90% (DU90%) index were 2,509.63, 2,259 for A; and 6,110.35, 5,499 for B, respectively. The DU90% index placed salbutamol inhalation with 835 DDD and sodium heparin with 2,102 DDD in the first place for the A and B admission units, respectively. A net increment in medication cost was registered according to the calculated cost from the depicted DU90% when the A (20,263 NIS) and B (6,269 NIS) admission units were compared (p=0.04). Conclusions: A significant difference in the prescription utilization of general medications was shown between the A and B admission units. The A admission unit had lower prescriptions measured by the DU90% index with higher medication cost. Potential drug-drug interactions were depicted in 18 (19%) and 17 (19%) subjects in the A and B admission unit, respectively.

Antibiotic prescription habits, cost pattern, and the prospective intervention in an Intensive Care Unit were analyzed. Methods: Data on antibiotic utilization and costs were collected prospectively from individual electronic charts from August 2003 to January 2004, and retrospectively from August to December 2002. Results: A total of 180 and 107 patients were surveyed in 2002 and 2003. In 2002, Piperacillin-Tazobactam (13.8%) and Imipenem/Cilastin (11.2%) were the most prescribed medications; while, in 2003, Vancomycin (12.6%) and Imipenem/Cilastin (11.3%) were prescribed, respectively. Total defined daily dose (DDD) and Drug Utilization 90% (DU90%) index for 2002 and 2003 were 2031.15 and 2325.90 DDDs (p>0.1) and 1777.57 and 2079.61 DU90%, respectively (p>0.1). The Median Total Cost /100 admission days (CI 95%) were NIS13,310 (11,110;18,420) and NIS13,860 (6,710;18,020) (p=0.66), respectively. Conclusions: Interventional programs should focus on promoting infectious control with rational antibiotic prescription aimed at minimizing the future emergence of bacterial resistance and futile expenses.

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Lamotrigine is an oral well absorbed antiepileptic medication (AED) from the phenyltriazine class approved by the FDA in 1994 for the treatment of epilepsy and in 2003 for the treatment of bipolar disorder. For epilepsy it is used to treat partial seizures, primary and secondary tonic-clonic seizures, and seizures associated with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. Lamotrigine is the only AED that treats the depressive as well as the maniac phases of bipolar disorders. It is important to consider lamotrigine adverse reactions and drug-drug interactions such as with other AED's, psychiatric medications, estrogens, and complementary-alternative medicines. Lamotrigine induces skin reactions as part of the hypersensitivity response (HSR), the actual incidence of skin rash is low (1.8%) providing slow escalation regimens are used when introducing this medication. An especially appealing indication for lamotrigine treatment is elderly epilepsy with depression. The main advantage of lamotrigine for the treatment of this indication in the elderly lies in its favorable and predictive adverse event profile and drug-drug interactions in comparison to other AEDs. Lamotrigine can serve in the elderly as both an antiepileptic and an antidepressant drug with a relatively favorable profile [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A nosocomial outbreak of fulminant hepatitis B infection at a medical center in Haifa, Israel, between 7 and 26 June 1986, involved five patients who had been hospitalized previously in the medical ward in late April and early May (first generation). This outbreak had an unusual clinical course, with fulminant hepatic failure associated with acute renal failure from acute glomerulonephritis, leading to death within a few days. The onset dates of hepatitis were tightly clustered temporally and incubation periods were short. Extensive laboratory and epidemiologic evaluation showed that the probable common-source vehicle of transmission was a multiple-dose vial of heparin and normal saline flush solution that may have been contaminated by blood of a known HBsAg carrier, who was positive for anti-HBe, hospitalized at the same time. A sixth patient died in August 1986 (second generation), after his initial admission in June that coincided with the terminal hospitalizations of three first-generation patients. Those patients had marked coagulopathies, and transmission to the sixth patient most probably occurred through environmental contamination by patients or through cross-contamination between patients through staff. The unusually high mortality rate (5 of 6) in this outbreak has not been definitely explained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]