Medicine shelves at the grocery store are looking bare these days, in part to a spike in influenza-like illnesses including the cold, flu and RSV.
Over-the-counter medicines for adults and children seem to be in short supply at grocery stores and pharmacies.
Many national retailers, including CVS and Walgreens, are now limiting how many children’s pain relief products you can buy per transaction online and in person.
“Supplies of these products are being replenished as quickly as possible, and there is not a widespread shortage in the US. However, with demand for children’s pain and fever medicines reaching unprecedented levels following this early and severe flu season (along with cases of RSV and COVID), we understand why some retailers have adjusted to impose limits on purchases,” according to a statement from the Consumer Healthcare Products Association, or CHPA. “This prevents ‘stock ups’ and ensures the availability of these products to as many consumers as possible. This is the earliest peak in influenza we have seen in more than a decade. As a result, sales of pediatric internal analgesics are up 65 percent compared to the same time last year.
“While CHPA member companies are running manufacturing facilities 24-7 to meet demand, we will continue to encourage consumers to buy only what they need, so other families can find and purchase the medicines they are seeking.”
In a story published in Augusta Free Press on Friday, Stuarts Draft physician Sam Hostetter said Virginia remains at the highest level of illness. However, he said, other areas with spikes are starting to go down.
“So hopefully we’ve seen our peak and are going to be coming back down again,” Hostetter said.
CHPA seems to agree with Hostetter’s assessment.
“We are encouraged by new figures from the CDC that flu cases in the US have declined for the third straight week, and we hope this will ease the demand for pediatric medicines in the near future. As always, we encourage parents concerned about a child with a respiratory illness and fever to contact their pediatrician or other healthcare provider for additional guidance, including when it comes to an appropriate amount of medicine needed to get them through this flu season.”
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Crystal Graham
