Do you suspect angina or cystitis? Patients will soon be able to undergo a diagnostic test in a pharmacy and then, if necessary, receive a course of antibiotics, without needing to see a doctor. A measure proposed in the next Social Security financing bill.
Since 2021, pharmacists can now prescribe antibiotics after rapid diagnostic guidance tests (Trod) that confirm the bacterial nature of tonsillitis and urinary infections, but only if they practice in healthcare structures where a doctor agrees to delegate this task to them.
From 2024
A restriction that will soon no longer apply: from 2024, France’s 20,000 pharmacies will be able to offer patients amoxicillin, after a positive “rapid angina test”, or fosfomycin to treat occasional urinary tract infections (i.e. more than 80 % of cystitis). ) following a footprint.
Through this expanded competence, the executive seeks to fight antibiotic resistance in a country where antibiotic consumption remains among the highest in Europe. According to Health Insurance, of six million antibiotic prescriptions for angina, only two million are justified. The device is also designed to relieve general practitioners and respond to medical deserts.
The acceleration in the screening arena is welcomed by pharmaceutical representatives who want to go even further and advocate for access to “Trod CRP,” C-reactive protein, a marker of inflammation, which can help Prevent the consumption of antibiotics when they are not necessary. necessary.
pharmaceutical training
For its part, the industrial sector is preparing for an increase in demand for these tests related to angina and cystitis.
“It’s just starting, we deliver them every day. We expect an acceleration from November or December,” Fabien Larue, director of AZZ, the French manufacturer of Trod, told AFP, which also has to manage the increase in prices. tests, due to the resumption of the epidemic.
At the same time, it will be necessary to train pharmacists: “We are in the process of sending Trods to training organizations,” adds the manager who uses disabled workers to carry out the tests.
Quick answer “on the corner of a table”
However, this is not about overly complicating the lives of pharmacists, who are already in charge of the traditional delivery of medicines, vaccinations or even flu and Covid diagnostic tests carried out in pharmacies.
For this reason, manufacturers highlight the speed and ease of execution of Trod, because “if it is not easy, pharmacists will not take advantage of it,” says Fabien Larue. His company has thus developed a cystitis testing system that can be used “in two minutes”, “on the corner of a table or counter”.
Regarding angina, the specialist “is working to improve the Trod, to do it in less than five minutes compared to the current 10 or 15 minutes.”
Cost of tests for pharmacists: one to two euros
Most orders are placed by wholesalers-distributors who deliver to pharmacies in France. At two euros per trod for cystitis and one euro for angina, the cost seems moderate for the health system, especially since these tests “do not represent colossal volumes compared to what we have known during Covid”, underlines Fabien Larue. However, the price of the procedure has yet to be set by pharmacists.
Diagnostic aids “respond to a need”, recognizes the president of the National Union of Medical Biologists (SNMB), Jean-Claude Azoulay, but, according to him, “in case of excessive recurrence of cystitis, it is necessary to perform an examination behind , in the laboratory… And especially with men, who rarely get simple cystitis!
Nurses can also perform TRD, but not prescribe antibiotics.
Source: BFM TV
