- 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 stems from a recent spike in pediatric sickness as seasonal bugs come back after being suppressed during the pandemic
- Worsening matters is a simultaneous shortages of four key antibiotics and respiratory drugs for children, leading to a marked rise in kids hospitalized
- Now, in addition to reporting shortages of some of the world’s most widely used antibiotics, US pharmacies have reported that Tylenol too has become scarce
- The pain reliever is one of the most popular drugs in the county, and is often used to reduce youngsters’ fevers
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.
‘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.
‘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.
