Zikria Saleem

University of Lahore | UOL · Lahore School of Clinical Pharmacy

Pharmacists are the custodians of drugs; hence their education, training, behaviors and experiences would affect the future use of drugs at community and hospital pharmacies. Therefore, we aimed at evaluating the self-prescribing antibiotic trends, knowledge and attitudes among pharmacy and non-pharmacy students. We found that pharmacy students had...

Objectives: In line with the recent global action plan for antimicrobial resistance, this is the first time such a comprehensive survey has been undertaken in Pakistan, sixth most populous country. Methods: This point prevalence survey (PPS) was conducted in 13 hospitals among 7 different cities of Pakistan. The survey included all inpatients rece...

Health-care-associated infections (HAIs) are considered a serious public health issues that contribute substantially to the global burden of mortality and morbidity with respect to infectious diseases. The aim is to assess the burden of health-care-associated infections by collation of available data from published point prevalence surveys (PPS) on...

Introduction: Resistant strains of bacteria are rapidly emerging with increasing inappropriate use of antibiotics rendering them less efficacious. Self-purchasing of antibiotics particularly for viral infections is a key driver of inappropriate use, especially in lower- and middle-income countries. There is a particular issue in countries such as...

Objective The study aimed to evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and practices toward the prevention of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among the public in Malaysia. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted online among the general public in Malaysia from June 2020 to August 2020 between the second and third wave (Phase 3 of the Recovery Mo...

Background: The clinical significance of utilizing a vancomycin loading dose in critically ill patients remains unclear. Objective: The main aim of this systematic review is to evaluate the clinical safety and efficacy of the vancomycin loading dose in critically ill patients. Methods: We performed a systematic review using PRISMA guidelines....

Objectives Carbapenem antimicrobials are considered for the treatment of serious bacterial infections. The objective of this study was to review the use of meropenem in cancer patients and to evaluate the impact of clinical pharmacist's intervention in this practice to reduce possible risks associated with use of meropenem. Methods This retrospect...

Background: Diabetes is among the top ten most prevalent diseases in Pakistan, suggesting that these patients may be the major drug consumers. Insulin was discovered a century ago, to treat diabetes, however, its access in several parts of the globe remains an issue. So, we evaluated insulin access in Pakistan. Methods: A nationwide cross-sectional...

(1) Background: Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PCP) has a substantial impact on the morbidity and mortality of patients, especially those with autoimmune disorders, thus requiring optimal dosing strategies of Trimethoprim–Sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX). Therefore, to ensure the safety of TMP-SMX, there is a high demand to review current evidence in...

Purpose: The primary cause of mortality and morbidity in thalassemia major is iron overload. The objective of this study was to compare the safety and efficacy of deferoxamine and deferasirox in transfusion dependent beta thalassemia patients. Methods: A retrospective observational study was conducted among 178 patients. Patients were divided into...

(1) Background: Inappropriate use of antimicrobials and subsequently rise of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) remains a major public health priority. Over-prescribing of broad-spectrum antibiotics is one of the main contributing factors for the emergence of AMR. We sought to describe antimicrobial prescribing trends among patients in public hospitals...

Background Antibiotics are losing their effectiveness because of the rapid emergence of resistant bacteria. Unnecessary antimicrobial use increases antimicrobial resistance (AMR). There are currently no published data on antibiotic consumption in Pakistan at the community level. This is a concern given high levels of self-purchasing of antibiotics...

Background: Multiple measures introduced early to restrict COVID-19 have dramatically impacted the teaching of medical and pharmacy students, exacerbated by the lack of infrastructure and experience with e-learning at the start of the pandemic. In addition, the costs and reliability of the Internet across Africa pose challenges alongside undertakin...

Colistin is considered a last treatment option for multi-drug and extensively resistant Gram-negative infections. We aimed to assess the available data on the dosing strategy of colistin. A systematic review was performed to identify all published studies on the dose optimization of colistin. Grey literature and electronic databases were searched....

Xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) is an autosomal recessive condition characterized by an extreme sensitivity to UV rays from sunlight. It presents clinically with progressive pigmentary abnormalities and an increased incidence of skin and mucous membrane cancers at sun-exposed sites. Parental consanguinity is a significant risk factor. Previously, cases...

Background: Antimicrobial/Antibiotic Resistance (AMR) is among the major threats to global health. Due to limited information on the subject matter in Zambia, we assessed the knowledge, attitude, and practices of community pharmacists on AMR and Antimicrobial Stewardship (AMS). Materials and Methods: We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study...

Introduction and Objectives: There have been concerns with the level of misinformation regarding coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‑19) and its treatment, drug shortages, as well as increased use and prices of anti‑malarials, antibiotics and hygiene products during the recent pandemic. Community pharmacists can play a significant role in disease prev...

Introduction and Objectives: There have been concerns with the level of misinformation regarding coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and its treatment, drug shortages, as well as increased use and prices of anti-malarials, antibiotics and hygiene products during the recent pandemic. Community pharmacists can play a significant role in disease preve...

Three repeated point prevalence surveys (PPSs) were conducted in pediatric wards of 5 hospitals using the methodology developed by Global-PPS to identify key targets for interventions and antibiotic stewardship programs. Out of the 916 hospitalized patients, 865 (94.6%) were treated with at least 1 antibiotic.

Introduction: Prevalence rates for diabetes mellitus continue to rise, which, coupled with increasing costs of complications, has appreciably increased expenditure in recent years. Poor glycaemic control including hypoglycaemia enhances complication rates and associated morbidity, mortality and costs. Consequently, this needs to be addressed. Whils...

Aim: Global expenditure on medicines is rising up to 6% per year driven by increasing prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and new premium priced medicines for cancer, orphan diseases and other complex areas. This is dif cult to sustain without reforms. Methods: Extensive narrative review of published papers and contextualizing the ndings...

Background: Diabetes mellitus rates continue to rise, which coupled with increasing costs of associated complications has appreciably increased global expenditure in recent years. The risk of complications are enhanced by poor glycaemic control including hypoglycaemia. Long-acting insulin analogues were developed to reduce hypoglycaemia and improve...

Introduction Prevalence rates for diabetes mellitus continue to rise, which, coupled with increasing costs of complications, has appreciably increased expenditure in recent years. Poor glycemic control including hypoglycemia enhances complication rates and associated morbidity, mortality and costs. Consequently, this needs to be addressed. Whilst t...

Citation: Godman, B.; Egwuenu, A.; Haque, M.; Malande, O.O.; Schellack, N.; Kumar, S.; Saleem, Z.; Sneddon, J.; Hoxha, I.; Islam, S.; et al. Strategies to Improve Antimicrobial Utilization with a Special Focus on Developing Countries. Life 2021, 11, 528. Abstract: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a high priority across countries as it increases mo...

Purpose: To assess the adherence of cardiologists to JNC7 and the impact of pharmacists in reducing clinical inertia by managing high blood pressure in the cardiology outpatient department of the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology, Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Methods: This was a pre-and post-interventional prospective study in which data was abstracted...

Introduction The emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a threat to public health. In 2015, the World Health Organization (WHO) introduced a global action plan to tackle AMR in World Health Assembly. Pakistan’s national action plan (NAP) for AMR was released in May 2017 by the Ministry of National Health Services. Based on the NA...

Background The emerging threat of antibiotic resistance is growing exponentially and antibiotic stewardship programs are cornerstone to fight against this global threat. The study aimed to explore the knowledge, perspectives and practices of physicians regarding various aspects of antibiotic stewardship program including antibiotic stewardship acti...

Background: Medication Adherence (MA) and Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) are two inter-connected concepts, co-infuenced by Health Literacy (HL), with signifcant impact on patient management and care. Thus, we aimed to estimate the association of HL and MA with HRQoL in IHD patients. Methods: Cross-sectional study of 251 IHD patients recruit...

Objectives: The WHO Access, Watch and Reserve (AWaRe) classification has been developed to support countries and hospitals in promoting rational use of antibiotics while improving access to these essential medicines. We aimed to describe patterns of worldwide antibiotic use according to the AWaRe classification in the adult inpatient population....

Background: The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a serious global health problem that has negatively impacted the mental health of students.Methods: We conducted an online descriptive cross-sectional study among 273 undergraduate pharmacy students at the University of Zambia from August to September 2020. A partial proportional odds regressi...

Background: Antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) are collaborative efforts to optimize antimicrobial use in healthcare institutions through evidence-based quality improvement strategies. With regard to critically ill patients, appropriate antimicrobial usage is of significance, and any delay in therapy increases their risk of mortality. Theref...

Study Objective: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major health concern worldwide. To rationalize antibiotic use, community pharmacist plays an important role. This study aimed to evaluate the perceptions and practices of community pharmacists regarding antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) in Lahore, Pakistan. Method: A descriptive cross-sectional stu...

Background The hypersensitivity reactions after docetaxel administration is a main concern in this study. The aim of this study is to check the incidence of hypersensitivity reactions (HSRs) after receiving a single dose of intravenous dexamethasone before docetaxel administration Method In this retrospective study, 1 year data from Jan 1st 2018 t...

Background Poor availability and unaffordability of key access antibiotics may increase antimicrobial resistance in the community by promoting inappropriate antibiotic selection and abridged therapy compliance. Objective To check the prices, availability, and affordability of the World Health Organization (WHO) key access antibiotics in private se...

Background: There is a concern with the growing use of antimicrobials across countries increasing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) rates. A key area within hospitals is their use for the prevention of surgical site infections (SSI) with concerns with timing of the first dose, which can appreciably impact on effectiveness, as well as duration with ex...

Background: Countries across Africa and Asia have introduced a variety of measures to prevent and treat COVID-19 with medicines and personal protective equipment (PPE). However, there has been considerable controversy surrounding some treatments including hydroxychloroquine where the initial hype and misinformation led to shortages, price rises and...

Background: The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a serious global health problem that has negatively impacted the mental health of students. Methods: We conducted an online descriptive cross-sectional study among 273 undergraduate pharmacy students at the University of Zambia. A partial proportional odds regression model was used to determin...

Background: In Pakistan, drug promotion practices, ethical or unethical, have rarely been in the spotlight. We aimed to assess the perception and barriers of medical representatives (MRs) and doctors (MDs) regarding ethical promotion of pharmaceuticals in Pakistan. Methods: A cross sectional survey was conducted in seven major cities of Pakistan...

Background: Countries have introduced a variety of measures to prevent and treat COVID-19 with medicines and personal protective equipment (PPE), with some countries adopting preventative strategies earlier than others. However, there has been considerable controversy surrounding some treatments. This includes hydroxychloroquine where the initial h...

Objective: This national survey was aimed at measuring the access to cardiovascular diseases (CVD) medicines in terms of their availability, price and affordability in Pakistan. This was done by using the standard WHO/ Health Action International (HAI) methodology. Methods: The price and availability data for 18 CVD medicines were collected from pu...

Background: Countries have introduced a variety of measures to prevent and treat COVID-19 with some countries adopting preventative strategies earlier than others. There has been considerable controversy surrounding some treatments especially hydroxychloroquine with the initial hype and misinformation leading to shortages, price rises, and suicides...

Objective To evaluate the impact of new National Drug Pricing Policy (NDPP) 2018 on access to medicines in terms of prices, availability and affordability. Design Two cross-sectional surveys were undertaken before and after the launch of NDPP 2018, using a modified WHO/Health Action International (WHO/HAI) methodology. Setting Four districts of Lah...

Background Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are considered a major threat to public health resulting in significant morbidity, mortality, and additional costs. The present study aimed to assess the current patterns and risk factors of HAIs among hospitalized children. Materials and methods Three repeated point prevalence surveys were conduc...

Numerous studies on risk factors, clinical presentation and treatment of hepatitis C are known to the world. However, no data is available about the safety and efficacy of anti-hepatitis C therapy among the patients of Gujranwala, Pakistan. This retrospective study compared two dosage forms of interferon; conventional interferon (IR) and Pegylated...

Antibiotic resistance is among the major threats to global health. Due to limited information on the subject matter in Zambia, we assessed the knowledge, attitude, and practices of community pharmacists on antibiotic resistance and antimicrobial stewardship. We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study among 144 randomly selected community phar...

Background: There are concerns with inappropriate prescribing of antibiotics in hospitals especially broad spectrum in Pakistan and the subsequent impact on antimicrobial resistance rates. One recognized way to reduce inappropriate prescribing is for empirical therapy to be adjusted according to the result of culture sensitivity reports. Objective:...

Background: Gender wise differences exist in anti-hypertensive treatment outcomes, yet still un-explored in Pakistan. Thus, we aimed to estimate the clinical efficacy of four different anti-hypertensive regimens in hypertensive women of Punjab, Pakistan. Methods: A longitudinal cohort study of 12 months duration was conducted by enrolling 300 hyper...

Antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) are collaborative efforts to optimize antimicrobial use in healthcare institutions through evidence-based quality improvement strategies. The general administration of pharmaceutical care in the Saudi ministry of health (MOH) is putting outstanding efforts in implementing antimicrobial stewardship in Saudi...

Introduction: Considering health professionals among high-risk individuals, we aimed to evaluate their knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) regarding COVID-19. Methodology: This cross-sectional study was conducted among the health professionals (medical doctors, nurses, pharmacists, physiotherapists, hospital technicians and technologists) pr...

Objective The purpose of this cross-sectional study conducted in different private and public sector hospitals of the major cities of Nepal and Pakistan was to compare and evaluate the antibiotic prescribing patterns. Methodology The data was collected based on prescriptions received from different hospitals of Lahore, Pakistan and Kathmandu, Nepal...

Introduction: Most of the antibiotics currently used in pediatrics are either unlicensed or being prescribed outside the specifications of product label (off-label prescribing). The aim of this study was to assess the extent of off-label antibiotic use in pediatrics. Methodology: A six month longitudinal off-label antibiotic utilization survey w...

Study objective To determine the role of pharmacist in identifying the frequency of errors in total parenteral nutrition prescriptions in cancer patients for the years 2015 and 2016. Total parenteral nutrition has a high potential for medical errors because of its complex composition, thus leading to severe complications. Pharmacist review of the p...

Introduction: In view of increasing concerns with antimicrobial resistance (AMR), the World Health Organization (WHO) instituted a Global Action Plan (GAP) to address this. Area Covered: One of the strategies to achieve the goals of GAP is to conduct regular surveillance of antimicrobial use through point prevalence surveys (PPS). In this review,...

Objective The aim of this study was to assess COVID-19-related knowledge, attitudes, and preventive practices of two Pakistani university populations.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted among students and employees of two higher education institutions in Laho