Pharmacists Confirm Case Of Steven Johnson Syndrome In Kano

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Pharmacists Confirm Case Of Steven Johnson Syndrome In Kano

Pharmacists under the auspices of Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria, ACPN, weekend confirmed recent report of a case of Steven-Johnson syndrome, SJS, in Dalla Local Government Council, Kano State but maintained that the offensive drug was not purchased in a registered pharmacy and was not sold by a pharmacist.

Steven Johnson syndrome is a form of toxic epidermal necrolysis and life-threatening skin condition in which cell death causes the epidermis to separate from the dermis. Speaking in Lagos, the National Chairman of ACPN, Dr Albert Kelong Alkali, who disclosed that the incident occurred in an unregistered patent medicine store, urged Nigerians to patronise only registered pharmacies for their drug needs.

"Our investigations revealed that the incident happened in Kano after a lady took tablets of Co-trimoxazole - a sulfa antibiotic purchased from an unregistered patent medicine store after complaining of catarrh.'
'The same lady returned the following day with complaints about reaction which was perceived by the vendor as malaria, the same vendor went ahead to give a sulfa-based anti-malaria which compounded the reaction resulting in the burning of the beautiful lady's skin."

He explained that Steven Johnson syndrome is a hypersensitivity complex that affects the skin and the mucous membranes and can occur as a result of certain medications. Lamenting the condition of the victim, he wondered why untrained professionals should be allowed to handle items like drugs. According to him, a patent medicine store owner has no right to stock such drugs and should not have handled the reaction as it has gone beyond his scope.

"Patent medicines are only stop gap where there is no pharmacy. The emphasis now is that government must empower agencies to cleaner up the environment. Drugs are poison. When taken appropriately it can even harm you. The case was pure mismanagement."