Intake of antibiotics and fasting during the holy month of Ramadan: A Literature Review

Abstract

Objectives: To review the intake of antibiotics and fasting during the holy month of Ramadan. Methods: In this study, we performed an extensive search of 50 databases following the Saudi Digital Library search engine. We included meta-analysis, randomized controlled studies and observational studies published in English language with human study only for update May 2017. The search terms included Ramadan, fasting, medication, therapy, type of disease and medication based on therapeutic class. The list of antibiotic medication and switch from regular days to Ramadan days based on literature search revealed comparative safety studies, efficacy studies and cost of type of medication for each disease studies and national or international evidence-based guidelines of switching short half-life to long halflife. All parenteral dosage form of medication were excluded from study. All medications should be listed in the Ministry of Health drug formulary. Results: A total of 710 studies were obtained after an extensive search with specific terms. Of those, 104 studies were duplicate studies and 606 were considered for further evaluation. After evaluation, we obtained 30 studies which discussed about the antibiotics and Ramadan. Of these 30 studies, only 2 studies were found to be appropriate for further revision. Among the two, one study was an observational study regarding the pattern of prescribing antibiotics during the holy month of Ramadan. The second study was about the systemic review on the safety of fasting and several infectious diseases. The suggested draft of list of antibiotic switch from regular days to the holy Ramadan days was explored in this review. Conclusion: The investigations about antibiotics intake during fasting not found. The studies of antibiotic during the holy month of Ramadan is required during legal registrations at all Muslim countries. Antibiotics switch therapy during fasting is highly recommended at all Muslim patients in the world.