-->PONE-D-26-02714-->-->Antibiotic dispensing practices and antimicrobial stewardship gaps in community pharmacies in Kakamega County, Kenya-->-->PLOS One

Dear Dr. Turnbull-Jones,

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Kindly address the comments from the two reviewers below

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Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

-->Comments to the Author

1. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented. -->

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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-->2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously? -->

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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-->3. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.-->

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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-->4. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.-->

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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-->5. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)-->

Reviewer #1: 1. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) remains one of the leading global public health threats,

70 contributing to an estimated 4.95 million deaths in 2019, with the highest burden in sub-

71 Saharan Africa. Please re check for latest data if available as per WHO , or any other valid agencies

2. major thing which is highlighted in conclusion is highlight critical gaps in community antibiotic governance. kindly highlight other important aspects of this study.

Reviewer #2: 1. The research and manuscript is well-structured. The manuscript can be accepted after minor revision since research like this may help to combat the menace of AMR in regions like Kenya.

2. The researchers mentioned in the methodology that they have followed STROBE guidelines for cross-sectional studies. But they have also described the study design as "prospective descriptive cross-sectional ".The design can be "cross-sectional study" since description of the methodology reveals that it is not prospective and since they have employed statistical tests also in interpreting data , the study is should be categorised as "analytical' rather than purely "descriptive".

3. For sampling, they have used consecutive prescription with antibiotic. But they have not provided a relevant justification for the sample "504" and the reason for choosing a particular sampling method.

4. Lines 154 - 155, they mentioned "both". How the dispensing source can be both OTC and prescription-based

5. Lines 178 - 179, they mentioned that few prescriptions had more than one antibiotic. But they did not mention how many prescriptions had two antibiotics, three antibiotics , etc.

6. In methodology and discussion they have included AwARe classification and it is missing in the results. To strengthen analysis, the authors should include the classification.

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Reviewer #1: Yes: Dr. Saurabh Singh , Ex Professor, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences ,LPU

Reviewer #2: No

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Antibiotic dispensing practices and antimicrobial stewardship gaps in community pharmacies in Kakamega County, Kenya

PONE-D-26-02714R1

Dear  Ms Eleanor Rachel Turnbull-Jones,

We’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements.

Within one week, you’ll receive an e-mail detailing the required amendments. When these have been addressed, you’ll receive a formal acceptance letter and your manuscript will be scheduled for publication.

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Kind regards,

Sarah Nanzigu, Ph.D.,MSc.,MBchB

Academic Editor

PLOS One

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

-->Comments to the Author

1. If the authors have adequately addressed your comments raised in a previous round of review and you feel that this manuscript is now acceptable for publication, you may indicate that here to bypass the “Comments to the Author” section, enter your conflict of interest statement in the “Confidential to Editor” section, and submit your "Accept" recommendation.-->

Reviewer #1: (No Response)

Reviewer #2: All comments have been addressed

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-->2. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented. -->

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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-->3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously? -->

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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-->4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.-->

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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-->5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.-->

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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-->6. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)-->

Reviewer #1: check all grammatical errors and editing mistakes in final manuscript, improve the quality of fig.1, recheck the citations once again

Reviewer #2: review comments addressed. They did not include AWARE category in modifying result. But, they have mentioned about that briefly in discussion

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-->7. PLOS authors have the option to publish the peer review history of their article (what does this mean?). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files.

If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public.

Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy.-->

Reviewer #1: Yes: Dr. Saurabh Singh

Reviewer #2: No

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