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Letter to the editor

Abdalhakim RM Shubietah¹

¹Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, An-Najah National University, Nablus, State of Palestine.

Citation: Shubietah ARM. Erratum on “Analysis of prescriptions dispensed at community pharmacies in Nablus, Palestine”. Mediterr Health J. 2024;30(2):163. https://doi.org/10.26719/2024.30.2.163.

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Dear Editor,

We read with great interest the article by Sawalha et al. titled “Analysis of prescriptions dispensed at community pharmacies in Nablus, Palestine, 2010 Jul;16(7):788–792” (1), which investigated the quality of prescriptions and prescribing trends by private clinicians in the Nablus Governorate of the State of Palestine.

Based on their findings, the authors reported 16 azithromycin prescriptions out of a total of 172 antimicrobial prescriptions. The correct percentage for this should be 9.3% [(16/172)*100], not the 5.9% reported, suggesting a higher prevalence of this drug's prescriptions. Consequently, the total percentage of macrolides should be adjusted to 15.7%, not 12.3% as initially stated. Additionally, the same table incorrectly classifies metronidazole as a cephalosporin, which is incorrect. It belongs to the nitroimidazoles family of antibiotics (2).

Their article, conducted in the West Bank, State of Palestine, is one of the few research pieces providing valuable insights into antibiotic prescription dispensing behaviours and trends. We believe that the article requires these corrections points to ensure accurate delivery of this important information.

References

1. Sawalha AF, Sweileh WM, Zyoud SH, Al-Jabi SW, Shamseh FFB, Odah A. Analysis of prescriptions dispensed at community pharmacies in Nablus, Palestine. East Mediterr Health J. 2010;16(7):788–792. https://www.emro.who.int/emhj-volume-16-2010/volume-16-issue-7/article-13.html.
2. Lamp KC, Freeman CD, Klutman NE, Lacy MK. Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of the nitroimidazole antimicrobials. Clin Pharmacokinetics 1999;36(5):353–373. DOI: 10.2165/00003088-199936050-00004.