Antibiotic prescription trends in a Tertiary Veterinary Hospital in Nigeria

Antibiotic prescriptions in a tertiary veterinary hospital

Abstract

A six-year retrospective study was conducted using records from case files of patients (Companion and Food Animals) handled at a Veterinary Teaching Hospital in Ogun state, Nigeria, to assess the pattern of antibiotic prescriptions in managing diseases presented to the hospital. There were four hundred and fifty-four (454) antibiotic prescription cases for which twelve (12) antibiotics were used. An antimicrobial susceptibility test was carried out before antibiotic prescription for 5 (1.1%) cases. The most frequently used antibiotics were: oxytetracycline (346; 68.4%), enrofloxacin (75; 14.8%), amoxicillin (31; 6.0%), and doxycycline (20; 4.0%). The frequency of use was less than 3% for each antibiotic. About 91.6% of the antibiotics were prescribed for diseases of infectious origin, 5.7% for non-infectious diseases, while the diagnosis of 2.6% of the antibiotic prescriptions were not specified. Haemoparasitic infections constitute 87.3% of infectious diseases, bacterial and viral infections constitute 7.7% and 5%, respectively. The antibiotic prescription regimen was completed in 38.1% of the cases not completed in 49.6%, and in 12.3% of the cases, it was not clearly stated whether or not the patients completed the prescription regimen. Oxytetracycline was the most frequently prescribed antibiotic. The highest usage of antibiotics was in the treatment of haemoparasitic
infections, and there was a high rate of non-compliance among clients to their prescription regimens. This finding underscores the significance of maintaining patient follow-up and educating clients on the importance of adhering to antibiotic regimens, to reduce the emergence of antimicrobial resistance.