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Saturday, May 5, 2012

Disorders of the Immune System


Allergic Diseases
The most common types of allergic diseases occur when the immune system responds to a false alarm. In an allergic person, a normally harmless material such as grass pollen, food particles, mold, or house dust mites is mistaken for a threat and attacked.
Allergies such as pollen allergy are related to the antibody known as IgE. Like other antibodies, each IgE antibody is specific; one acts against oak pollen and another against ragweed, for example.

Immune Complex Diseases

Immune complexes are clusters of interlocking antigens and antibodies. Normally, immune complexes are rapidly removed from the bloodstream. Sometimes, however, they continue to circulate and eventually become trapped in the tissues of the kidneys, lungs, skin, joints, or blood vessels. There, they set off reactions with complement that lead to inflammation and tissue damage. Immune complexes work their mischief in many diseases. These include malaria and viral hepatitis, as well as many autoimmune diseases.

Autoimmune Diseases
Sometimes the immune system’s recognition apparatus breaks down, and the body begins to manufacture T cells and antibodies directed against self antigens in its own cells and tissues. As a result, healthy cells and tissues are destroyed, which leaves the person’s body unable to perform important functions.
Misguided T cells and autoantibodies, as they are known, contribute to many autoimmune diseases. For instance, T cells that attack certain kinds of cells in the pancreas contribute to a form of diabetes, whereas an autoantibody known as rheumatoid factor is common in people with rheumatoid arthritis. People with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have antibodies to many types of their own cells and cell components. SLE patients can develop a severe rash, serious kidney inflammation, and disorders of other important tissues and organs.
No one knows exactly what causes an autoimmune disease, but many factors are likely to be involved. These include elements in the environment, such as viruses, certain drugs, and sunlight, all of which may damage or alter normal body cells. Hormones are suspected of playing a role because most autoimmune diseases are far more common in women than in men. Heredity, too, seems to be important. Many people with autoimmune diseases have characteristic types of self-marker molecules.

Immune Deficiency Disorders
When the immune system is missing one or more of its parts, the result is an immune deficiency disorder. These disorders can be inherited, acquired through infection, or produced as a side effect by drugs such as those used to treat people with cancer or those who have received transplants.
Temporary immune deficiencies can develop in the wake of common virus infections, including influenza, infectious mononucleosis, and measles. Immune responses can also be depressed by blood transfusions, surgery, malnutrition, smoking, and stress.
Some children are born with poorly functioning immune systems. Some have flaws in the B cell system and cannot produce antibodies. Others, whose thymus is either missing or small and abnormal, lack T cells. Very rarely, infants are born lacking all of the major immune defenses. This condition is known as severe combined immune deficiency disease or SCID.
AIDS is an immune deficiency disorder caused by a virus (HIV) that infects immune cells. HIV can destroy or disable vital T cells, paving the way for a variety of immunologic shortcomings. The virus also can hide out for long periods in immune cells. As the immune defenses falter, a person develops AIDS and falls prey to unusual, often life-threatening infections and rare cancers.






MAIN ROLE OF A PHARMACIST ASSISTANT IN OUT PATIENT PHARMACY IN HOSPITALS


Pharmacist assistant is also known as pharmacy technician. They are responsible for the dispensing and distribution of medicine under the supervision of a qualified pharmacist. Pharmacy Technicians do a variety of tasks such as preparing and dispensing prescribed medications for patients, perform compounding of medications, provide advice for non-prescription medications, inventory and track medication and supply orders, and follow up on payments and other administrative tasks.
Meanwhile, the out-patient pharmacy is the pharmacy that provides medication services and dispense drugs for patients who has been discharged from the inpatient units. The pharmacist speak to patients and family members to provide information about each new prescription. They also provide medication and drug counseling.


WORKFLOW CHART

There five major roles of pharmacist assistant. They are receiving and screening prescription, preparing labels and envelopes, fiiling medication, counterchecking medication ad lastly dispensing medication.
Firstly, they receive and screen the prescription. This is to check the prescription’s validity, completeness, appropriateness and accuracy. Then, to ensure drugs prescribed are in MOH Drug List and available or in stock at the hospital. However, they will contact prescriber if in doubt to reconfirm. Next, they will send the prescription for labeling.
petmeds.jpgSecondly, they prepare labels and envelopes for the medication. They prepare the labels  according to the prescription. Next, they will send the prescription and prepared envelopes for filling medications.
Thirdly, they fill the medications as they received prescription and labelled envelopes.
However, extemporaneous preparation is done if necessary. Such as syrup preparations for pediatric. It is important to check the dose of the preparation to avoid medication error.
Fourthly, they must countercheck the filled medication. If there is any mistakes of accuracy of the medicines,they have to return it to the filling medications counter staff for rectification or correction. Mistakes can be done due to the hectic and clumsiness of the pharmacy assistants.
Fifthly, pharmacy technicians will dispense medications. They dispense the correct medication to the right patient. They will also ask the patient if they need more information on the medicines.



RESPONSIBILITY OF  ASSISTANT PHARMACY IN OUTPATIENT

      Assistant Pharmacist
Outpatient pharmacy technicians assist pharmacists by filling in and distributing medication to patients. The technician will refer to the pharmacist any problems a specific medication might pose to a patient, for example.

      Assisting Patients
The outpatient pharmacy technician also helps patients with prescription intake and pick up through the pharmacy window, conducts patients' transactions on a cash register and answers patients' prescription requests either through the window or on the phone.

      Inventory
An outpatient pharmacy technician is also responsible for conducting daily inventory by checking drug supply, restocking shelves, rotating medicine on shelves and removing items that may have expired from shelves.

      Deliverer
Sometimes an outpatient pharmacy technician will have to mail out prescriptions to patients or, depending on the patient's health condition, will have to deliver prescriptions personally to a patient's address.


      Compound extemporaneous preparations
 Extemporaneous preparations is drug or combination of drugs prepared or compounded in a pharmacy according to a prescription. Examples of extemporaneous preparations are ophthalmic solution, antibiotics syrup such as ampicillin syrup and topical preparations such as calamine lotion.

      Inventory maintenance
Pharmacy technicians will check the stocks and the expired date of the drugs. They also need to order the drugs from the suppliers.



CONCLUSION
      Pharmacist Assistant play an important role in out-patient pharmacy. This is because they help the pharmacists to spend time in counseling the patients.
      They also help to minimize the medication errors and mistakes while compounding and dispending medication.
      Therefore, the staff in out-patient pharmacy can perform excellent performances.