ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the awareness of the volunteer pharmacy workforce of medication use and their satisfaction with the pharmacy services of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games from a pharmacist's perspective. METHODS: A questionnaire was developed from related articles in published peer-reviewed journals and modified prior to distribution to the whole population of pharmacists serving at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Validity tests were conducted based on expert opinions and Cronbach's alpha (0.79). The questionnaire consisted of demographics (11 questions), knowledge of medication use in sports (8 questions) and satisfaction on the provision of the service (5 questions). Responses using a 5-point-Likert scale, from strongly agree (5) to strongly disagree (1), and two free text questions were analysed with descriptive statistics. RESULTS: The response rate was 86% (n=32/37). Overall, the pharmacists reported a high awareness of medication use. Specifically, questions on the prohibited list of medications (mean 4.0±SD 0.7), COVID-19 policy (3.8±0.9), use of alternative non-prohibited medications (3.6±1.0) and therapeutic use exemptions (3.5±0.9). Moreover, they rated high satisfaction with the pharmacy service they provided. However, rates were ≤3 for knowledge of the International Olympic Committee Needle Policy (2.6±1.0), Medication Importation Declaration (2.9±1.0) and communication skills (3.0±1.0). CONCLUSION: Pharmacists were confident and satisfied with the pharmacy service at the games. The study confirms the importance of prior training and education. Game-specific policies and strategies to improve communication skills should be included in the pharmacy education for future Games.
ABSTRACT
A high-performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detector (HPLC-UV) method has been used to quantify teicoplanin concentrations in human plasma. However, the limited analytical accuracy of previously bioanalytical methods for teicoplanin has given rise to uncertainty due to the use of an external standard. In this study, an internal standard (IS), polymyxin B, was applied to devise a precise, accurate, and feasible HPLC-UV method. The deproteinized plasma sample containing teicoplanin and an IS of acetonitrile was chromatographed on a C18 column with an acidic mobile phase consisting of NaH2PO4 buffer and acetonitrile (78:22, v/v) by isocratic elution and detection at 220 nm. The linearity was in the range 7.8-500 mg/L calculated by the ratio of the teicoplanin signal to the IS signal. This analytical method, validated by FDA guidelines with ICH Q2 (R1), was successfully applied to analyze the plasma samples of patients in the intensive care unit for treating serious resistant bacterial infectious diseases, such as those by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus faecalis. The methods suggested the potential for use in routine clinical practice for therapeutic drug monitoring of teicoplanin, providing both improved accuracy and a wide range of linearity from lower than steady-state trough concentrations (10 mg/L) to much higher concentrations.
ABSTRACT
WHAT IS KNOWN AND OBJECTIVE: Understanding investigational medications is important. Many older drugs are being investigated for repurposing against COVID-19. We comment on various drugs currently undergoing such trials to optimize their safe use. COMMENT: We describe medications used during early COVID-19 outbreaks in South Korea, focusing on practice aspects including the method of drug administration, drug formulation, patient-monitoring for adverse reactions and drug interactions informed by our experience during the 2015 outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). We comment on hydroxychloroquine, chloroquine, lopinavir/ritonavir with zinc supplement, remdesivir, tocilizumab, ciclesonide, niclosamide and high-dose intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG). WHAT IS NEW AND CONCLUSION: Effective therapies are urgently needed to manage COVID-19, and existing drugs such as antivirals and antimalarials are under investigation for repurposing to meet this need. This process requires up-to-date drug information to ensure optimum use, particularly safety and efficacy profiles of the medications, until convincing evidence is reported.