Hello everyone, I am "Ji Lian Mei Pharmacist", see this Weibo, very helpless.
Since 2012, I have been constantly popularizing the harm of this drug to women of childbearing age, speaking on Weibo, WeChat, newspapers, TV...
However, it is still abused every day.
The following story asks the consent of the patients who visit the doctor, and I hope that everyone who sees this article will share it with the women of childbearing age around them, reminding them to stay away from ribavirin to avoid similar encounters.
After seeing a patient in the morning, I was not very happy all day, not because I was angry with the patient, but because I felt sorry for the patient's experience.
Present Patients:
A 33-year-old female patient usually has irregular menstrual cycles: ranging from 30 to 40 days, last menstruation 42 days ago (January 10), and pregnancy confirmed 11 days ago (February 21).
It was supposed to be a joy, but worry ensued, as patients took medication without knowing they were pregnant.
For ten days from February 2 to 12, just because of nasal congestion and runny nose, he was diagnosed with a cold, and he used more than a dozen kinds of medicines, and even injections and injections.
Are these drugs safe for the fetus?
Will it cause deformity?
Can you keep this baby?
With these questions and the instructions and outer packaging of some of the drugs, the patient made an appointment with my consultation clinic.
In the clinic, I analyze and evaluate the possible effects of each drug one by one based on the patient's gestational age, the variety and dosage of the drug, and the drug-related metabolic and clearance information.
When I analyzed ribavirin injection, I was helpless.
The patient was injected with ribavirin for two consecutive days from 11 to 12 February.
And this drug has been clinically proven to cause teratogenicity, it has a long metabolic clearance time in the body, just right is the teratogenic sensitive period of fetal development in her abdomen!
I couldn't make a decision for her whether or not to keep the baby, but it was a frustrating reminder to have to tell her that the risk of teratogenicity was high.
What makes me even more frustrated is that I have been doing science popularization for five years, and I have also been popularizing science for five years not to use this drug for women of childbearing age.
It seems that there is no effect at all, or there are people who find out that they are pregnant after using this drug and have to abort the pregnancy.
Ribavirin is commonly known as "viruszole", and because the common name carries the word "virus", most of the Chinese people have been taken into the ditch.
Even medical personnel, thinking that it works against any virus, abuse this drug to treat diseases caused by various viral infections.
Abuse of it to treat colds is the most common, tablets, granules, dispersible tablets, aerosols, oral liquids of various dosage forms, a random search on the Internet can show a bunch.
Ordinary people can buy it at will in pharmacies and use it to cure colds, but the truth is it:
No cure for colds!
Say important things three times.
In the United States, the drug is available in only two dosage forms, inhaled and taken orally.
Among them, the NEA only approved it for the treatment of severe lower respiratory tract infections caused by respiratory syncytial virus, especially in preterm infants and hospitalized patients with underlying lung disease.
The ORAL DOSAGE FDA only approves its use in combination with interferon for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C, and does not work alone.
The FDA has issued a serious warning about the regulation of this drug, requiring pharmaceutical companies to mark it in bold black on the first page of the drug label, the first of which is:
Teratogenic to the fetus! Even exposure to therapeutic doses as low as 1% can create a clear possibility of fetal malformations.
Women of childbearing age and their sexual partners should therefore avoid pregnancy for 6 months of using the drug and use at least two reliable contraceptives (such as oral contraceptives + condoms).
Pregnant healthcare workers should also avoid nebulizing inhalation of ribavirin for patients.
When working in a pharmacy in the United States, when women of childbearing age come to pick up the drug, we will ask them to show a certificate that they are not pregnant before giving the drug, that is, they need to use the early pregnancy test strip to test before taking the drug to prove that they are not pregnant.
In contrast, in China, there is no strict supervision of this drug, and it is widely abused to treat colds, and there will continue to be women of childbearing age who step on the minefield without knowing it, causing regret.
The author of this article ——
Welcome to follow me,
Together, we will protect the safety of our own and our families' medications!