ABSTRACT
The adverse events (AEs) of repurposed drugs used in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) bear a challenge in clinical practice, even though the safety profiles of these drugs are quite known for primary indications. Since it is a new virus, post-marketing surveillance of drugs' safety is of utmost clinical significance. This review aimed to investigate the patterns, incidence, and frequency of AEs of COVID-19 medications and vaccines and to explore the relationship between the occurrence of AEs and characteristics of COVID-19 patients, such as age, gender, and comorbidities. A literature search was conducted on electronic databases like MEDLINE, Google Scholar, and ScienceDirect for studies conducted on the AEs of drugs and vaccines used against COVID-19. The study found that prescription drugs for COVID-19 most commonly cause gastrointestinal symptoms, while some were associated with more severe liver, kidney, and cardiac manifestations. AEs varied among individuals, especially in elderly people with comorbidities. The known side effects of steroids and azithromycin including psychosis and prolongation of QT interval were also found to be prevalent when used in COVID-19 patients. Serious AEs such as multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) and septic shock were commonly reported among patients who required invasive ventilation. AEs reports for newly formulated vaccines showed general safety with the majority being local complaints. The reported AEs ranged from mild to severe, including MODS. Factors such as old age and comorbidities were found to be risk factors for a higher potentiality of AEs. Further studies are needed to draw evidence-based conclusions. © 2023 Omar Yahya Al-Shargi et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
ABSTRACT
Midst to current Coronavirus infectious disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the international pharmaceutical federation stated that pharmacists being a part of the healthcare system had a crucial role in the management cycle of COVID-19 outbreak. The purpose of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of pharmacists working in various sector like hospital and community area, to snapshoot their current preparedness and awareness regarding COVID-19. A cross-section online survey was conducted between Oct to Dec 2020, during the lockdown stage. The data was collected through a self-administered questionnaire. The study instrument was designed by a team of authors after a rigorous literature review. The questionnaire was divided into 4 parts. The first part comprised of demographic information of the respondents. The second part identified the source of respondents' COVID-19 knowledge. The third part assessed the knowledge of pharmacist regarding COVID-19 in which Yes or No option was given against each set of question. The last part determined the perception and attitude of respondents towards COVID-19. Among 92 participants, 65.2% male and 34.8% female. 54.3% pharmacist worked in hospital with 53.3% of bachelor degree. 76.1% pharmacist received the information from ministry of health, Saudi Arabia. Most of the pharmacist had great knowledge with average percentage with 75%, the perception also observed as good with 90% of responses and the attitude also good with above 90% of responses. The hospital pharmacists had good knowledge, attitude and practice towards the COVID-19. The majority of the pharmacists perceived that they can play an important role in this pandemic. It is important for all the pharmacists to have standard authentic information about the COVID-19 and to further convey this knowledge and belief to the community. Future studies are required to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of other health workers and other segments of society.