Wednesday 16 November 2022 02:29 AM Parents are waiting for 15 hours in emergency rooms amid Amoxicillin shortage trends now
A shortage of the common antibiotic Amoxicillin continues across the US as an increasing number of kids are diagnosed with seasonal illnesses and more parents are forced to call out of work to care for them.
As pharmacies struggle, due to an ongoing shortage that the FDA warned about several weeks ago, to keep up with the demand from parents for Amoxicillin, more and more Americans have been required to stay home from work to tend to their sick children.
The FDA initially blamed a surge in demand for the shortage, as the numbers of respiratory syncytial virus cases skyrocket to unseasonably high figures alongside the seasonal surges of strep throat, ear infections and other respiratory illnesses.
Infectious-disease specialists say a number of factors but primarily weakened immune systems from the pandemic are contributing to the recent spike in viral infections.
'Pandemic babies,' who were guarded against respiratory pathogens because of measures like social distancing are also now getting sick and the easing of mask mandates in schools makes it easier for viruses to spread, especially among those with weakened immune systems.
An increasing number of children are arriving at hospital with respiratory symptoms and other illnesses related to RSV. A national shortage of Amoxicillin is making treating the virus harder
More sick kids has also meant more parents calling out of work, a statistic that is hurting worker productivity and the financial stability of families dependent upon salaries that come from jobs without sick pay
Amoxicillin - especially liquid Amoxicillin - is used to treat infections in children that tend to arise alongside RSV. Those can include ear infections and throat infections, like strep
Though major pharmaceutical chains like CVS and Walgreens initially said they were able to keep up with the increased need for Amoxicillin, parents across the US have been getting calls and texts that their pharmacies are out of the drug.
Erin Fox, a senior pharmacy director at the University of Utah Health who tracks shortages of drugs said 'supplier were just not prepared for' the sudden run on Amoxicillin.
Sonika Patel, a pharmacist at Lo Cost Pharmacy in Savannah, Georgia said the drug has 'been on backorder since October.'
'That's when we've been having a big uptick in bronchitis and RSV and everything, so the demand for it is so high that people aren't able to keep up with supply,' she told WTOC.
Most of the products currently in short supply are the powder for oral suspension that is mixed with water at the pharmacy to become a liquid version of the drug given to children.
In her estimation, the drug will be back in supply anywhere between late November and early December.
Rudy Njam, who runs iPharmacy in Livonia - a city between Detroit and Ann Arbor - says that being an independent pharmacist, he was able to source liquid Amoxicillin from multiple vendors, an
