Wednesday 23 November 2022 07:17 AM Pharmacists now run out of CHILDREN'S TYLENOL amid crippling antibiotic shortage trends now
A Children's Tylenol shortage currently affecting Canada has carried over into the United States, pharmacists in multiple American cities have warned.
The drug's short supply, experts say, stems from a recent spike in pediatric sickness as seasonal bugs come back with a bang after being suppressed during COVID-related lockdowns.
Worsening matters is a simultaneous shortages of four key antibiotics and respiratory drugs for children, leading to a marked rise in kids being hospitalized with the debilitating respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV.
Now, in addition to reporting shortages of some of the world's most widely used antibiotics, pharmacies across the US have reported that kids' Tylenol too has become scarce.
The pain reliever is one of the most popular drugs in the county, and is used to quell youngsters' fevers.
Across the country, pharmacy workers in states such as New York, New Jersey, Florida, and Michigan have seen their store stock dwindle - with photos showing barren shelves where the drug should be.
Pharmacist Don Arthur, who owns and operates a pharmacy in Buffalo almost completely depleted of its children's version of the drug, said the shortage stems from increased demand.
A Children's Tylenol shortage currently affecting Canada has carried over into the United States, pharmacists in multiple American cities have warned. Pictured is a depleted store stock at a pharmacy in Florida earlier this week
The drug's short supply, experts say, stems from a recent spike in pediatric sickness as seasonal bugs come back with a bang after being suppressed during pandemic lockdowns. Pictured is a sign limiting one bottle per customer in Western New York
Pharmacist Don Arthur, who owns and operates a pharmacy in Buffalo, says his store is almost completely depleted of its children's version of the drug
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'Just too much demand for the current supply,' Arthur, the proprietor of Brighton Eggert Pharmacy Inc. said.
He added that the recent rise in RSV cases serves as part of the reason for that increased demand.
Last week, pediatric bed occupancy was the highest it's been since the start of the pandemic, with roughly 75 percent of an estimated 40,000 beds filled with children - many of them afflicted with the virus.
Compounding the issue, Arthur said, is the uptick in illness Americans see every winter - which experts have said has worsened this year after lockdowns and mask requirements weakened Americans' immune systems.
Among the most at-risk to fall victim to this recently surface phenomenon are children, who after years of remote learning and isolation are for the most part back to their typical day-to-day activities.
Pictured is a New Jersey store shelf left without any of the children's medicine. The pain reliever is one of the most popular drugs in the county, and is used to reduce fevers
'I think unfortunately with RSV, every flu season we deal in our community with the common flu, we deal with colds, we deal with RSV, but we still have COVID in smaller levels,' Arthur remarked.
'It's still present, and now it seems we have a bit of a spike with RSV.'
One of the most common symptoms of RSV, as well as the common flu and cold, is fever - an ailment that Tylenol, the most popular brand version of the generic drug Acetaminophen, largely combats.
With that said, Arthur's store is far from the only experiencing such shortages.
Close by in Western New York, several stores in Buffalo, Clarence, and Cheektowaga were without the drug. Last week, Arthur's store had just four bottles of the drug on shelves.
Worsening matters is a simultaneous shortages of four key antibiotics and respiratory drugs for children, leading to a marked rise in kids being hospitalized with the debilitating respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV
Shoppers across the country looking for the medicine, meanwhile, have snapped photos of empty shelves in nearby states like New Jersey and Detroit.
Many locales seeing shortages are close to the Canadian border, beyond which supply problems for the children's medicine are even more pronounced
'Specific to Tylenol, it first appeared on our radar when we had patients calling us from over the border,' Arthur said, adding that up north even the adult and liquid forms of the drug 'are unavailable,' in Fort Erie Niagara Falls even as far as Toronto.
Meanwhile, also affected by the burgeoning US shortage - which Tylenol maker Johnson & Johnson has dismissed as a non-issue - are stores as far south as Florida.
And as as respiratory viruses spike due to aforementioned antibiotic shortages, demand has continued to rise - as well as reports of Americans unable to find the drug.
One of the most common symptoms of RSV, as well as the common flu and cold, is fever - an ailment that Children's Tylenol largely combats
Children's Tylenol works to bring down a fever and relieve pain in children, and serves as an alternative for the adult version, which can prove harmful to children under 11 .
'Children under the age of six months should not be receiving ibuprofen,' Dr. Kathleen Grisanti, pediatrician, Pediatric & Adolescent Care of West New York said this week.
She added that the popular over-the-counter medicine 'is important to keep the fever under control, to make the children feel much more comfortable when they are ill.'
Despite the slew of reports, Johnson & Johnson denied that a shortage was taking place in the US, asserting that it currently is only affecting Canada - where parents have resorted to traveling across the border and engaging in almost-illicit drug deals with the few who have the stuff in their possession.
Compounding the issue is the uptick in illness Americans see every winter - which experts have said has worsened this year after lockdowns and mask requirements weakened Americans' immune systems
The company told DailyMail.com in a statement: We are not experiencing shortages of Children’s Tylenol in the United States.
'There is increased consumer-driven demand for our children’s pain reliever products in certain regions and we’re taking all possible measures to ensure product availability.'
Arthur, however, says that there is 'absolutely there is a shortage,' but has urged American parents not to panic as stores will likely regain their stock in the coming months.
'We're having a difficult time getting it. Every day we check what we have on these two shelves and we take a look at what's available from the manufacturer and our distributors and we buy what we can,' Arthur remarked.
Dr. Asha Shajahan, a pediatrician in Michaigan, has also encountered parents complaining of Tylenol shortages, which she said likely stems from the recent rise in RSV and other illnesses treated by antibiotics that are now in short supply.
Children's Tylenol works to bring down a fever and relieve pain in children, and serves as an alternative for the adult version, which can prove harmful to children under a certain age
'It is possible that it’s happening here with so many cases of RSV and flu,' the doctor said earlier this week as reports and photos of empty shelves in her state and others across the country became more and more prevalent on social media.
Desperate parents report spending hours going from pharmacy-to-pharmacy to track down the antibiotics for their children.
Health officials have declared a shortage of amoxicillin, a vital antibiotic used to treat bacterial infections such as pneumonia, respiratory infections and strep throat.
But doctors on the ground are also reporting dwindling stocks of Augmentin - a antibiotic drug that uses amoxicillin alongside clavulanic acid
