Quality Assessment of Some Essential Children’s Medicines Sold in Licensed Outlets in Ashanti Region, Ghana

Table 2

Results of content of API, pH, and microbial load of the essential children’s medicines investigated.

Product and Code	Retention; time (min)	of API (%)	Remarks on content of API (%)		Remarks on pH	Microbial load
CFX1	8.73	72.14	Failed	10.24	Failed	Passed
CFX2	8.73	67.45	Failed	4.52	Passed	Passed
Cotrimoxazole
CTX1	n/a	110.94/102.69	Failed	5.46	Passed	Passed
CTX2	n/a	112.50/100.00	Failed	5.30	Passed	Passed
CTX3	n/a	134.00/123.00	Failed	5.16	Passed	Passed
CTX4	n/a	122.00/93.75	Failed	5.66	Passed	Passed
CTX5	n/a	118.13/124.75	Failed	5.57	Passed	Passed
		(TMP/SMZ)
Metronidazole
MTZ1	n/a	113.60	Failed	6.56	Passed	Passed
MTZ2	n/a	91.50	Failed	5.42	Passed	Passed
MTZ3	n/a	90.00	Failed	4.95	Passed	Passed
MTZ4	n/a	95.60	Passed	6.28	Passed	Passed
MTZ5	n/a	69.70	Failed	5.15	Passed	Passed
MTZ6	n/a	106.70	Failed	6.06	Passed	Passed
AMX1	4.04	85.74	Passed	4.84	Passed	Passed
AMX2	3.65	95.46	Passed	5.14	Passed	Passed
AMX3	3.68	95.70	Passed	5.57	Passed	Passed
AMX4	4.04	88.12	Passed	4.75	Passed	Passed
AMX5	4.05	103.58	Passed	5.73	Passed	Passed
AMX6	3.67	94.07	Passed	4.65	Passed	Passed
FCX1	2.37	53.84	Failed	4.75	Passed	Passed
FCX2	2.36	35.10	Failed	4.47	Passed	Passed
FCX3	2.36	60.01	Failed	4.78	Passed	Passed
FCX4	2.36	46.12	Failed	5.13	Passed	Passed
Cefuroxime
CFX1	n/a	45.43	Failed	3.18	Failed
CFX2	n/a	74.90	Failed	4.1	Passed	Passed
CFX3	n/a	58.60	Failed	4.06	Passed	Passed
CFX4	n/a	96.70	Passed	3.7	Passed	Passed
CFX5	n/a	135.00	Failed	4.75	Passed	Passed
CFX6	n/a	90.10	Failed	4.98	Passed	Passed
-lumefantrine
ATL1	4.07/5.80	141.99/97.13	Failed	4.88	Passed	Passed
ATL2	3.30/14.21	84.82/125.85	Failed	3.84	Failed	Passed
ATL3	3.23/3.91	153.43/45.32	Failed	3.70	Failed	Passed
ATL4	3.35/14.18	209.67/127.68	Failed	2.88	Failed	Passed
Mebendazole
MBZ1	n/a	111.97	Failed	5.02	Passed	Passed
MBZ2	n/a	85.91	Failed	7.30	Failed	Passed
MBZ3	n/a	93.60	Passed	5.07	Passed	Passed
MBZ4	n/a	72.80	Failed	5.37	Passed	Passed
MBZ5	n/a	89.00	Failed	5.46	Passed
ABZ1	7.25	106.80	Passed	4.42	Failed	Passed
ABZ2	7.26	102.60	Passed	4.08	Failed	Passed
ABZ3	7.25	93.11	Passed	4.52	Passed	Passed
ABZ4	7.25	95.59	Passed	4.50	Passed	Passed
ABZ5	7.23	97.64	Passed	4.38	Failed	Passed
ABZ6	7.23	103.37	Passed	4.29	Failed	Passed
ABZ7	7.24	130.54	Failed	4.61	Passed	Passed
ABZ8	7.28	188.45	Failed	4.60	Passed	Passed
Griseofulvin
GSV1	n/a	105.10	Passed	4.96	Failed	Passed
GSV2	n/a	70.85	Failed	4.96	Failed	Passed
GSV3	n/a	94.31	Failed	5.67	Passed	Passed
Ferrous sulphate
FES1	n/a	97.50	Passed	6.07	Passed	Passed
FES2	n/a	104.60	Passed	3.81	Failed	Passed
FES3	n/a	106.70	Passed	5.44	Passed	Passed
MVM1				2.50	Passed	Passed
(i) Vit B1	2.06	120.00	Failed
(ii) Vit B2	6.84	25.33	Failed
(iii) Vit B3	2.74	113.68	Failed
(iv) Vit B6	1.97	88.16	Failed
MVM2				2.69	Passed	Passed
(i) Vit B1	2.75	99.41	Passed
(ii) Vit B2	-	-	-
(iii) Vit B3	3.17	129.7	Failed
(iv) Vit B6	1.97	12.58	Failed
FLA1	3.83	71.40	Failed	3.59	Failed	Passed
FLA2	3.83	68.38	Failed	4.93	Failed	Passed
Paracetamol
PCM1	n/a	89.00	Failed	4.92	Passed	Passed
PCM2	n/a	97.40	Passed	4.17	Passed	Passed
PCM3	n/a	108.00	Failed	4.10	Passed	Passed
PCM4	n/a	106.80	Failed	4.34	Passed	Passed
PCM5	n/a	101.70	Passed	4.71	Passed	Passed
PCM6	n/a	102.80	Passed	5.18	Passed	Passed
PCM7	n/a	105.40	Failed	7.20	Failed	Passed
IBF1	19.73	98.48	Passed	4.27	Passed	Passed
IBF2	19.56	100.97	Passed	4.78	Failed	Passed
IBF3	20.34	99.28	Passed	5.88	Failed	Passed
IBF4	19.59	119.87	Failed	5.62	Failed	Passed
IBF5	20.43	99.24	Passed	4.40	Passed	Passed

(a) + denotes samples analysed by high performance liquid chromatography, otherwise samples were analysed by ultraviolet spectrophotometry; (b) TMP = trimethoprim; SMZ = sulphamethoxazole; (c) criteria: ciprofloxacin suspension (98–102%), co-trimoxazole suspension (TMP & SMZ: 92.5–107.5%), metronidazole suspension (95–105%), amoxicillin suspension (80–120%), flucloxacillin suspension (80–120%), cefuroxime suspension (95–105%), artemether-lumefantrine (90–110%), mebendazole suspension (90–110%), albendazole suspension (90–110%), griseofulvin suspension (95–105%), ferrous sulphate syrup (95–110%), Vitamins B1, B2, B3 and B6 (90–106%, 90–110%, 95–105% and 90–110%, respectively), folic acid syrup (90–110%), paracetamol syrup (95–105%), ibuprofen syrup (95–105%); (d) criteria: ciprofloxacin suspension (3.0–4.5), co-trimoxazole suspension (5.0–6.5), metronidazole suspension (5.0–6.5), amoxicillin suspension (4.0–7.0), flucloxacillin suspension (4.0–7.0), cefuroxime suspension (3.5–7.0), artemether-lumefantrine (4.5–6.8), mebendazole suspension (4.5–5.5), albendazole suspension (4.5–5.5), griseofulvin suspension (5.5–7.5),: ferrous sulphate syrup (5.2–6.5), multivitamin syrup (2.5–4.0), folic acid suspension (5.2–6.50), paracetamol syrup (4.0–6.9), ibuprofen suspension (3.6–4.6); (e) aureus was isolated; (f) aerobic microbial count of 1012 cfu/ml, exceeding the BP (2013) limit of ≤1000 cfu/ml.