ArticleFrontiers in public health2026
Feasibility of using community pharmacy sales of over-the-counter respiratory products as a syndromic surveillance indicator: a pilot study from Sofia, Bulgaria.
Article in Frontiers in public health, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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Abstract
Introduction: Data on sales of pharmaceutical products (SPP) for symptomatic treatment of acute respiratory diseases can be a reliable indicator providing initial information before official surveillance systems. This pilot study aimed to develop a framework for collecting community pharmacy sales data and assess the feasibility of using these data as a complementary indicator of respiratory infection activity. Methods: Products were selected through observation of prime-time television advertisements during February-March 2025, expert review, and a survey of 97 community pharmacists. Retrospective monthly sales data for selected product categories were obtained from two community pharmacies in Sofia for October 2024-April 2025. Sales were analysed using descriptive statistics, the Friedman test, and post-hoc Wilcoxon signed-rank tests with Bonferroni correction. Results: Mean SPP vary from 121.06 units for antivirals to 685.96 units for antipyretics. Antivirals showed the greatest relative monthly variability ( Conclusion: Pharmacy sales data showed preliminary potential for monitoring local respiratory infection trends; however, larger prospective multicenter studies using standardized product classifications and higher-frequency sales data are needed to evaluate their contribution to complementary respiratory syndromic surveillance.
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