Shelf Life Of Artemeter And Lumenfantrin Suspension After Opening

Different drugs have different shelf life. That means they will expire at a different date even if they are produced on the same day. From experience solid dosage form have longer shelf life. Liquids medications have shorter shelf life.

Artemeter/Lumenfantrin suspension

For medications to remain active throughout the shelf life, they must be stored according to the manufacturer's instruction. After opening a medication the shelf life may either remain the same or become unstable or inactive after a while before the stated date of expiry.

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Most solid dosage form such as tablet and capsule remain stable and active even after opening. However, some few exceptions such as vitamin C will become inactive after some time before the stated date of expiry. The rate of losing stability and it's activity depends on the storage conditions. If properly stored after opening, the shelf life may stay to six months.

Liquid formulation such as paracetamol can remain stable and active even after opening throughout it's stated shelf life. Even some suspension fall into this category. The worst scenario is six month duration. But that cannot be said of reconstitute suspension. Most reconstituted suspension can only survive maximum of 14 days after opening. An example is artemeter and lumenfantrin suspension.

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Shelf Life Of Artemether/Lumenfantrin Suspension

Artemeter and lumenfantrin suspension comes in 20mg/120mg artemeter/lumenfantrin in 5ml suspension after proper reconstitution. There are four different preservatives use in these suspension from different manufacturer. The least was able to preserve the suspension for up to 14 days. However, most manufacturers recommended discarding their products after 7 days from the day it was open. Lokmal, suspension made by emzor pharmaceutical even specified three days from the date it was opened. However, these days are only effective when the suspension is properly stored in a fridge between 2-8°c.