There is not enough relief for sick children and some adults because of the shortage of cold and flu medicines

boston globe

Local pharmacies are struggling to keep children’s products in stock, such as liquid Tylenol and ibuprofen.

Dana Gerber, Boston Globe

Updated Jan 5, 2023 | 1:43 PM

in the case of COVID-19 (new coronavirus infectious disease), influenza, respiratory syncytial virus Cold and flu medicines for children have surged this winter, and drugstore shelves continue to run out of them. And even some adult cultivars have been found to be more difficult to spot than usual.

As over-the-counter drug maker Procter & Gamble said in a statement, “an unprecedented level of respiratory need” has local pharmacies. Struggling to keep pediatric products like liquid Motrin and Tylenol on the shelves.

Supplies of cold remedies for children have been difficult for months, said Michael Santos, pharmacy manager at Hamilton Pharmacy in Dorchester. now? He is completely out of stock.

“When it came to the retail level, it was impossible to get hold of,” Santos said. People settled on generics at first, but now “even that is being bought up,” he said.

And while children’s medicines continue to be in short supply, 1 month or moreChildren aren’t the only ones in short supply when it comes to cold and flu products. says. For Kornfield, the problem of supplying adult medicines actually pre-existed the problem of children’s medicines.

unlike last year shortage of powdered milkAlthough it was caused by the shutdown of the factory, the trouble with medicines for colds and flu is a case where the demand exceeds the supply. “Triple Demic” Persistent, according to a statement from Consumer Healthcare Products AssociationIn fact, Proctor & Gamble, which makes NyQuil and DayQuil, and Johnson & Johnson, which makes Tylenol and Motrin for children, have their factories running 24/7, according to a statement. .

“Manufacturers are operating at full capacity and directing product inventories to where they are needed most,” the CHPA statement said, urging people not to stockpile medicines.

The shortage has forced retailers to take the supply problem into one’s own handsCiting “supplier fulfillment challenges,” Walgreens currently limits its online customers to six pediatric fever-reducing products. per order. CVS allows both online and in-person customers to shop Only 2 products for pain relief in children “To ensure equitable access for all customers” According to their website.

and meanwhile Children’s antipyretic products are in stock on Amazon, but delivery times vary widely. One 4 oz bottle of Grape Flavored Liquid Tylenol The estimated delivery date is between January 26th and March 3rd.

Bonnie Molino, a Beverly resident, said: “We know the demand is high, but as a mother, I can’t believe you can’t go to seven different stores in a day to get the medicine your child needs. On Tuesday she had to pick up her five-and-a-half-year-old son from school, and all she had was children’s Tylenol. He responded,” she said, but she would have preferred to give him Motrin.

According to Molino, a nurse at school told her that if things got really hopeless, she could crumble a bit of the adult pill and mix it with applesauce or ice cream.

“If I’m really going to crush adult medicine and figure out the dosage on my own, it’s a little scary.

During Christmas, Magen Price of Melrose struggled to find Mucinex and Nyquil when several adults in the family fell ill. .

“It wasn’t noisy, but it was very hard to find things,” she said.

But these days, Price’s focus is on tracking medications for an 8-month-old baby and a 3-and-a-half-year-old baby. She got a half bottle of Motrin for her kids from another mother in the area and hopes her husband will look for more at her CVS.

“You don’t want to hoard and hoard, but when you see it, you really want to get it, because every week it seems like at least one person is sick,” said nurse Price. Told. “They need to get better and we need to get back to work.”

Now that winter break is over and children are back in school, it is unclear when or how the shortage will be resolved. (Amoxicillin, a liquid antibiotic typically given to children, still in short supply.) Nikita Zinin, pharmacy manager at Allston’s Central Pharmacy, said two or three times a day people come in looking for liquid Tylenol and Ibuprofen.

“I’m a little worried,” Jinin said. “I have two children, she and I, so we are trying to find out where they get the infection when they get sick.”

Globe correspondent Hannah Nguyen contributed to this report.