http://ir.lib.ruh.ac.lk/handle/iruor/8217 Mon, 27 Apr 2026 06:56:03 GMT 2026-04-27T06:56:03Z http://ir.lib.ruh.ac.lk/handle/iruor/8346 Rational Use of Medicines by Patients in Galle Area Hasandi, W.A.H.N.; Perera, B. Background: There are many adverse consequences of irrational use of medications. Irrational use of medications will reduce the quality of treatment which will result in increased morbidity and mortality, development of resistance to antimicrobial drugs and increased number of adverse drug reactions. World Health Organization established prescribing indicators and recommended values to promote rational use of medications. Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the rational use of medicines by patients who attended health care facilities (public & private) in Galle municipality area. Methodology: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at outpatient department pharmacy of Teaching Hospital and a selected community pharmacies with in Galle municipality area. Outpatient encounters treated for acute illnesses were included in the study. Data were collected prospectively using prescriptions and drug used was recorded in the indicator data collecting sheet. Results and conclusions: Total of 400 prescriptions were analyzed. Average number of drugs per encounter was 2.88. The percentage of drugs were prescribed by generic name was 49.35%. Percentage of encounters with an antibiotic/s and percentage of drugs prescribed from essential drug list were 52.0% and 72.85% respectively. None of the encounters observed with an injection prescribed. The results of this study demonstrated that all the prescribing indicator values were far from recommended level of rational use by WHO. Specially, in terms of prescribing antibiotics and generic name of medicines. Thu, 08 Nov 2018 00:00:00 GMT http://ir.lib.ruh.ac.lk/handle/iruor/8346 2018-11-08T00:00:00Z http://ir.lib.ruh.ac.lk/handle/iruor/8345 Pathogenic Bacterial Spectrum and Susceptibility Pattern in Adult Cancer Patients at Apeksha Hospital, Maharagama – Preliminary Findings Chathuranga, G.; Dissanayake, T.; Fernando, N.; Wanigatunge, C. Background: Infectious diseases are an important cause of death among cancer patients. The main risk factor for infection is neutropenia associated with chemotherapy. Objectives: To determine the spectrum and the antimicrobial sensitivity pattern of the bacteria causing respiratory infections, skin and soft tissue infections (SST) and complicated Urinary Tract Infections (UTI) in cancer patients. Methodology: Cancer patients who were given both immunosuppressive therapy and parenteral antibiotics, presented with respiratory infections, SST and UTI were included (n=55). Pathogenic bacteria were isolated from sputum, pus, urine, wound swabs and bronchio-alveolar lavage specimens. Results and conclusions: Of the 55 patients, 25 (45.4%) had haematological malignancies and the rest had solid organ tumours. The most common infection was respiratory infection (43.6%). Majority of the infections were caused by coliform bacteria (61.8%) followed by Staphylococcus aureus (16.3%) and Pseudomonas species (10.9%). Of the 9 S. aureus isolates, 5 were methicillin resistant. Extended spectrum of β-lactamase production was detected in 20.4% of the coliform bacteria. Inducible clindamycin resistance was observed in one S. aureus isolate. Multi drug resistance Acinetobacter species was isolated from 4 patients with respiratory infections. One Acinetobacter isolate was resistant to all recommended antibiotics while the other three were only sensitive to colistin. Higher resistance rates were observed (>50%) for first line antibiotics in coliform bacteria. Resistance rates of coliform bacteria for imipenem/meropenem and piperacillin-tazobactam are 48.4% and 74.2% respectively. The highest sensitivity rate of coliform was detected for amikacin (71%). Coliform bacteria were more prevalent as a pathogen in adult cancer patients receiving immunosuppressive therapy. Antibiotic resistance is a main problem when selecting antibiotics for the treatment in this patient group. Thu, 08 Nov 2018 00:00:00 GMT http://ir.lib.ruh.ac.lk/handle/iruor/8345 2018-11-08T00:00:00Z http://ir.lib.ruh.ac.lk/handle/iruor/8344 Melanoma Skin Cancer Detection Using Image Processing and Computer Vision Algorithms Sivathmeega, S.; Rathnayaka, R.M.K.T. Background: Skin cancer is a common type of cancer in the world. The incidence has been increasing rapidly all over the world; especially, in recent years, fairly rapid increment can be seen in melanoma skin cancer patients. Melanoma is a deadliest form of skin cancer, must be diagnosed earlier as soon as possible for effective treatment. For early diagnosis of melanoma a skin lesion should be segmented accurately. However, the segmentation of the melanoma skin cancer lesion using traditional approach is challenging due to the high number of false positives and time consuming in prediction. Hence, the development of automated computer vision systems are becoming as essential tools today. Objectives: The aim of this study was to identify the specific cancer region accurately compared to traditional approach by examining existing systems, identifying the major issues of the systems and finding future directions. Methodology: The proposed methodology was implemented the segmentation for melanoma skin cancer detection using image processing. A sample of 250 cancer affected patients’ images were collected from Ethical Review Centre, University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka. The input for the system was the image of the skin lesion which was speculated to be a melanoma lesion image, was then pre-processed to upgrade the image quality. Results and conclusions: According to our finding, the proposed approach could achieve 97.54% sensitivity, 97.69% specificity, and 97.56% accuracy. This tool is more useful for the rural areas where the experts in the medical field may not be available. Since the tool is user friendly and robust for images of any quality, it can serve the purpose of automatic probable diagnosis of the melanoma skin cancer. Finally, the proposed methodology is also a financially attractive solution, since it runs on ordinary computers, available in the hospitals too. Thu, 08 Nov 2018 00:00:00 GMT http://ir.lib.ruh.ac.lk/handle/iruor/8344 2018-11-08T00:00:00Z http://ir.lib.ruh.ac.lk/handle/iruor/8343 Formulation of Non-alcohol Based Hand Scrubs with Medicinal Plant Extracts and Evaluation of the Antimicrobial Efficacy Karunanayaka, K.D.S.V.; Hettihewa, S.K.; Silva, D.D.; Karunanayaka, L. Background: Hand hygiene is taken as an effective preventive measure to avoid spread of antimicrobial resistance. Objectives: The aim of the study was to develop non-alcohol based hand scrubs using natural plant extracts and evaluate the antimicrobial efficacy against selective microorganisms. Methodology: Two formulations (F1 and F2) of non-alcohol based herbal hand scrubs with medicinal plant extracts were prepared. F1 formulation was prepared by the combination of clove oil and medicinal aloe while the F2 formulation by the combination of cinnamon oil and medicinal aloe as the herbal extracts. Two positive controls and two negative controls were used. Health care professionals were randomly tested to identify the viable pathogens, which are present on hands. Among the identified microorganisms, antimicrobial activity was tested using agar well diffusion method against standard cultures of Candida albicans and Streptococcus pyogenes identified. The physical stability parameters (pH, odor, appearance and color) were measured for 90 days at room temperature. Results and conclusions: F1 and F2 hand scrubs were found to be homogenous liquid and milky white in colour with a pleasant odor. The mean values of zones of inhibition of F1 hand scrub were 34.67±1.16 mm and 21.00±0.00 mm against C. albicans and S. pyogenes respectively. The mean values of zones of inhibition of F2 hand scrub were 21.00±3.00 mm and 12.33±0.58 mm against C. albicans and S. pyogenes respectively. The mean values of inhibition zones of negative controls (distilled water-N1, glycerin-N2) and 70% ethanol (positive control-P1) against C. albicans and S. pyogenes were zero (0.00) mm. The mean values of inhibition zones of the market product (positive control-P2) were 11.30±1.53 mm and 10.00±0.00 mm against C. albicans and S. pyogenes respectively. It is concluded that the formulated two non-alcohol based hand scrubs (F1 and F2) have promising antimicrobial activity against pathogens tested. Thu, 08 Nov 2018 00:00:00 GMT http://ir.lib.ruh.ac.lk/handle/iruor/8343 2018-11-08T00:00:00Z