Availability of over-the-counter antibiotics in Guatemalan corner stores

Widespread availability of antibiotics without prescription potentially facilitates overuse and contributes to selection pressure for antimicrobial resistant bacteria. Prior to this study, anecdotal observations in Guatemala identified corner stores as primary antibiotic dispensaries, where people p...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2020-09, Vol.15 (9), p.e0239873-e0239873
Main Authors: Moreno, Purificación, Cerón, Alejandro, Sosa, Karen, Morales, Marinees, Grajeda, Laura M, Lopez, Maria Renee, McCraken, John P, Cordón-Rosales, Celia, Palmer, Guy H, Call, Douglas R, Ramay, Brooke M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Allen, Paul G
Amoxicillin
Antibiotics
Antiinfectives and antibacterials
Antimicrobial agents
Availability
Biology and Life Sciences
Censuses
Cleaning compounds
Dispensing
Drug dispensing
Drug resistance
Evaluation
Health care services accessibility
Medicine and Health Sciences
People and places
Pharmaceuticals
Population
Public health
Questionnaires
Regulations
Retail trade
Stores
Supervision
Surveys
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Summary:Widespread availability of antibiotics without prescription potentially facilitates overuse and contributes to selection pressure for antimicrobial resistant bacteria. Prior to this study, anecdotal observations in Guatemala identified corner stores as primary antibiotic dispensaries, where people purchase antibiotics without prescriptions. We carried out a cross sectional study to document the number and types of antibiotics available in corner stores, in four study areas in Guatemala. A total of 443 corner stores were surveyed, of which 295 (67%) sold antibiotics. The most commonly available antibiotics were amoxicillin, found in 246/295 (83%) stores, and tetracycline, found in 195/295 (66%) stores. Over the counter sales result from laissez-faire enforcement of antibiotic dispensing regulations in Guatemala combined with patient demand. This study serves as a baseline to document changes in the availability of antibiotics in informal establishments in light of new pharmacy regulations for antibiotic dispensing, which were adopted after this study was completed.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0239873