American Pharmacists Association

About: American Pharmacists Association is a other organization based out in Washington D.C., District of Columbia, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Pharmacist & Pharmacy. The organization has 2413 authors who have published 1969 publications receiving 30470 citations. The organization is also known as: APhA & American Pharmaceutical Association.

Clinical pharmacist counseling improves outcomes for Taiwanese asthma patients

Abstract: Objective To assess the impact of an asthma educational program provided by a nurse combined with asthma counseling provided by a pharmacist on asthma knowledge, quality of life and clinical outcomes in Taiwanese patients with asthma. Setting All patients were recruited from Pulmonary Medicine outpatient clinic, the Tri-Service General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan. Asthma education was given in three one-hour sessions offered during monthly clinic visits. Method A total of 91 asthma patients were randomly assigned to a nurse-administered education program (Group 1), the education program with additional pharmacist counseling (Group 2), or a control group receiving routine care only (control). Three questionnaires were used for assessment at months 0, 3 and 6. Outcomes were compared between groups to determine efficacy. Main Outcome Measure Asthma knowledge, health-related quality of life, and medication adherence were measured at baseline and 3 and 6 months after enrollment. Results A total of 104 patients were enrolled; 91 completed the study. Knowledge scores of patients in Groups 1 and 2 increased significantly compared to control group. Both intervention groups showed significant increases in knowledge scores with longer follow-up. Group 2 showed a significant improvement in clinical symptoms between baseline (month 0) and month 6 (4.99 vs. 4.21, P = 0.008). No significant differences in medication adherence were seen among groups. Conclusion Regular nurse-administered asthma education with additional pharmacist counseling improves asthma knowledge and clinical symptoms in asthma patients.

Chloroquine Dosing Recommendations for Pediatric COVID-19 Supported by Modeling and Simulation.

Abstract: As chloroquine (CHQ) is part of the Dutch Centre for Infectious Disease Control coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) experimental treatment guideline, pediatric dosing guidelines are needed. Recent pediatric data suggest that existing World Health Organization (WHO) dosing guidelines for children with malaria are suboptimal. The aim of our study was to establish best-evidence to inform pediatric CHQ doses for children infected with COVID-19. A previously developed physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model for CHQ was used to simulate exposure in adults and children and verified against published pharmacokinetic data. The COVID-19 recommended adult dosage regimen of 44 mg/kg total was tested in adults and children to evaluate the extent of variation in exposure. Based on differences in area under the concentration-time curve from zero to 70 hours (AUC0-70h ) the optimal CHQ dose was determined in children of different ages compared with adults. Revised doses were re-introduced into the model to verify that overall CHQ exposure in each age band was within 5% of the predicted adult value. Simulations showed differences in drug exposure in children of different ages and adults when the same body-weight based dose is given. As such, we propose the following total cumulative doses: 35 mg/kg (CHQ base) for children 0-1 month, 47 mg/kg for 1-6 months, 55 mg/kg for 6 months-12 years, and 44 mg/kg for adolescents and adults, not to exceed 3,300 mg in any patient. Our study supports age-adjusted CHQ dosing in children with COVID-19 in order to avoid suboptimal or toxic doses. The knowledge-driven, model-informed dose selection paradigm can serve as a science-based alternative to recommend pediatric dosing when pediatric clinical trial data is absent.

Ismp summit on the use of smart infusion pumps: guidelines for safe implementation and use

Abstract: This material is the property of the Institute for Safe Medication Practices. This material may not be copied in any format or used for any purpose without the permission of the Institute for Safe Medication Practices. This material is the property of the Institute for Safe Medication Practices. This material may not be copied in any format or used for any purpose without the permission of the Institute for Safe Medication Practices.

Anaphylactic Shock Associated with Cefuroxime Axetil: Structure—Activity Relationships

Abstract: OBJECTIVE:To present a predictive model of allergenicity based on a structure– activity relationship analysis of β-lactam antibiotics using appropriate skin testing procedures.CASE SUMMARY:A 39-year-old woman was diagnosed with anaphylactic shock a few minutes after taking a 500 mg tablet cefuroxime of axetil and was admitted to the emergency department with dizziness, facial angioedema, generalized skin rash, and inferior cardiac ischemia. Skin testing confirmed the involvement of cefuroxime as the cause of the anaphylactic reaction, and the reaction was defined as probable according to the Naranjo probability scale. We then performed skin testing to study cross-reactivity between different β-lactam antibiotics. In addition to this initial assessment, a structure—activity relationship (SAR) analysis was done. It showed that the patient was sensitized to β-lactam antibiotics presenting a methoxyimino group, but not to similar compounds lacking this chemical group (eg, amoxicillin or penicillin G or V). Ch...