Quality control of some antibiotic molecules seized on the Ivorian illicit market by the GPHF-Minilab kit
Medicines of lower and falsified qualities (MLFQ) are a real public health problem. They are responsible for some drug resistance to antibiotics and several deaths worldwide. Faced with this scourge, quality control of our country's medicines is essential in order to maintain the quality of medicines and ensure a certain safety for patients. To contribute to the fight against MLFQ, we proposed to use the GPHF-Minilab kit to evaluate the quality of some antibiotic molecules seized on the Ivorian illicit market. This is a descriptive study with analytical purposes on the quality of illicit drugs seized by the police. Medicinal products presented as containing ceftriaxone or cefixime or ciprofloxacin or ofloxacin were collected and analysed according to the instructions of the GPHF-Minilab. The analyses carried out on the 24 samples revealed non-conformities, namely unknown origin (12.5%), lack of batch number (12.5%), package leaflet (16.67%), address of manufacturer (58.33%), absence of expiry date (8.33%) and date of manufacture (4.17%), underdosed active ingredients (4%) or over-dosed active ingredients (13%). As these non-conformities are likely to induce misuse, therapeutic failures or even poisoning, the marketing and consumption of such products should be avoided. The Minilab kit is a relevant, fast, and easy-to-use tool that can contribute to the evaluation of the quality of the drug at checkpoints in our country to fight against this gangrene.