Canada has been contending with a nationwide scarcity of kids’s Tylenol and different acetaminophen-containing medication because the spring
Article content material
Inventory is way from ample, however a current inflow of foreign-produced youngsters’s ache and fever medicine has stabilized a months-long scarcity of the medication on Calgary pharmacy cabinets.
Commercial 2
Article content material
A number of metropolis pharmacies who spoke to Postmedia on Thursday stated they’d acquired shipments of kids’s Tylenol following Well being Canada’s announcement final month it had procured a million bottles of foreign-produced provide.
Article content material
Canada has been contending with a nationwide scarcity of kids’s Tylenol and different acetaminophen-containing medication because the spring, with the scenario worsening over the summer time and reaching a fever pitch in current weeks as demand for the medication spikes amid the circulation of influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and COVID-19.
Pharmedic Pharmacy in Parkhill has secured restricted, intermittent provide in current months. However a young children’s Tylenol cargo alongside different generic-brand inventory means the shop’s cabinets are once more stocked.
Commercial 3
Article content material
“More often than not, each time we order it, even when it says that we may, it simply doesn’t are available in. However this previous week we’ve been in a position to have a cargo of precise brand-name Tylenol and a few non-brand identify Tylenol as properly,” stated David Loewen, the pharmacy’s accounts supervisor.
“We’re simply attempting to assist individuals out. I’d say daily we get one or two, perhaps even three individuals coming to the shop or phoning on the lookout for children’ Tylenol or Advil.”
Kaylyn Bassett, a pharmacist at The Pharm Drugstore in Marda Loop, stated her retailer additionally acquired inventory, which is being stored behind the counter to make sure it’s well-rationed.
-
Tylenol scarcity an issue, however to not blame for hospital crunch: pediatrician
-
Alberta affected by nationwide scarcity of youngsters’ chilly drugs
“Pharmacies have began to obtain shipments. We had been knowledgeable that every one pharmacies can be getting a cargo,” Bassett stated. “Our cabinets had been empty of Advil and Tylenol in addition to the cough and chilly for kids. It’s been arduous to get.”
Commercial 4
Article content material
Each Pharmedic and The Pharm are additionally compounding pharmacies, which suggests they’ve been in a position to make some appropriate medicine on-site even when over-the-counter provide is depleted.
Alberta Well being Companies, which didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark Thursday, has beforehand stated the scarcity hasn’t affected affected person care.
Well being Canada stated Thursday the provision of many over-the-counter pediatric acetaminophen and ibuprofen merchandise stays restricted in components of the nation.
It stated producers are producing at report ranges to satisfy demand, with some corporations producing twice as a lot as on the identical time final 12 months. Distribution of international provide procured final month is ongoing.
“Hospitals have begun receiving their shipments, and the product destined for neighborhood pharmacies and retailers are beginning to seem on cabinets now,” the federal company stated. “Extra foreign-labelled product has been approved and is en path to Canada and anticipated to reach within the coming days.”
Commercial 5
Article content material
Flu circumstances proceed rise throughout Alberta
Alberta is within the midst of its most extreme flu season since 2009, because the province continues to report a excessive fee of confirmed infections.
Provincial knowledge launched Thursday confirmed 1,515 new lab-confirmed influenza circumstances through the week ending Nov. 26. That’s down from 1,566 circumstances the week earlier than, the primary decline because the season started in October.
There have now been 5,163 flu circumstances this season, a quantity that features 818 hospitalizations, 80 of whom wanted remedy in intensive-care models.
Sixteen Albertans have died from influenza within the 2022–23 season, together with 4 deaths newly reported Thursday. Flu deaths thus far embody two youngsters below age 10, and 12 individuals age 60 or above.
Commercial 6
Article content material
The aggressive begin to this season follows two years that noticed restricted unfold of flu viruses, a development thought to align with public-health measures taken to fight COVID-19. The presently dominant flu pressure — influenza A H3N2 — will doubtless peak earlier than the brand new 12 months, however a potential second peak of influenza A H1N1 virus may come later within the season, Alberta neighborhood influenza surveillance program head Dr. James Dickinson informed Postmedia final week.
Greater than 1,000,000 doses of flu vaccine have now been administered in Alberta this season. Which means 22.5 per cent of the inhabitants has acquired a flu shot, together with 60.1 per cent of these age 65 and older.
Twitter: @jasonfherring