An assessment of infant medication administration and storage practices in selected communities in the Vhembe District of Limpopo Province, South Africa

Background: Effective infant medication administration and storage is a major public health challenge outlined by the World Health Organization.These challenges may be exacerbated in rural or limited-resource areas.Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate infant medication administration and storage practices.Setting: This study took place in selected communities in the Vhembe District of Limpopo Province, South Africa.Method: Data was collected through 39 semi-structured interviews with infant caretakers and rural health workers. Interviews were recorded when permission was given by participants. Interviews were transcribed and coded using grounded theory and Tesch's model of data analysis. Themes were agreed upon through consensus discussions with the researchers and an independent coder. Results: Six themes that affect current infant medication administration and storage practices in the Vhembe District were identified: access to infant healthcare, the role of health workers, the devices used in the administration of infant medication, reluctance of the infant to take the medication, storage and reuse of infant medication in the rural home and hygiene practices surrounding infant medication administration.Conclusions: Many factors were found to affect infant medication administration and storage practices in in the Vhembe District. Substantial evidence was found to suggest that the relationship between rural health workers and infant caretakers strongly influences these practices: a great amount of reliance and trust is placed in the health worker. Ensuring proper dosage of infant medication in the rural household arose as a main concern of participants. Reuse of medication in the home and home hygiene practices surrounding infant medication administration are areas of potential future research. This future research may further inform recommendations for infant medication administration and storage practices in the Vhembe District

Faut-il prescrire ou proscrire les médicaments chez la femme enceinte?

La prescription de médicaments au cours de la grossesse est très souvent une source d'inquiétude tant pour le professionnel de santé que pour la femme enceinte elle-même.La question du rapport bénéfice/risque pour la mère comme pour l'embryon ou le foetus ne semble pas toujours aussi évidente à résoudre et les mises en garde souvent non spécifiques des notices des médicaments peuvent apparaître difficiles à interpréter. C'est pourquoi, devant cette situation, plus que devant tout autre, l'expérience clinique et les connaissances pharmacologiques sont indispensables. Affirmer l'absolue innocuité d'un médicament est quasiment impossible, par contre il est facile, d'avoir une attitude prudente avec les médicaments récents et par conséquent mal évalués pour ne garder que les anciens, efficaces et reconnus pour leur faible tératogénicité ou toxicité. Le propos de cette revue est de fournir différentes informations précises et objectives permettant de faire un choix juste et raisonné de médicaments utilisables chez une femme enceinte