Children sick with seasonal illnesses and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) flock to hospital emergency rooms and were made to wait for up to 15 hours to be attended to by healthcare personnel. The increasing number of cases is happening alongside a shortage of the common antibiotic amoxicillin.
Moreover, parents were reported to be struggling to fill their kids' prescriptions as major pharmacies ran out of stock of the said antibiotic. They were also forced to call out of work to care for their sick children. Notably, antibiotics don't treat RSV, meaning amoxicillin is useless against the infection, even though it is routinely prescribed by doctors as part of the "treatment."
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned that the U.S. is facing a shortage of amoxicillin, citing an increase in demand and manufacturing issues as reasons for the medication's short supply. In an Oct. 28 announcement, the federal agency said the shortage applies to "amoxicillin oral powder" that pharmacists use to prepare a liquid version, which is easier to administer to young children. (Related: FDA announces amoxicillin shortage, cites increased demand and manufacturing issues as causes.)
"This shortage is a challenging one as some of the commonly prescribed strengths and forms of the medication are not available," said Michael Ganio, senior director of pharmacy practice and quality for the American Society of Health-Systems Pharmacists. "Patients and providers may find that they have to call around to multiple pharmacies to find available supplies."
Many families and guardians of the children were forced to be absent from work, without sick leave pay, which is obviously costing families financially.
The Daily Mail reported that a record-high of more than 100,000 Americans missed work last month because of childcare problems, many of which come down to sick children and sick daytime caregivers. Bureau of Labor Statistics said this was higher than what it was during the height of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
"People are falling through the cracks. It means missed paychecks, disruptions at home and staffing shortages that erode productivity growth and increase costs at a time when we're already worried about those things," Diane Swonk, KPMG's chief economist, said.
Meanwhile, health experts claim that the weakened immune systems of these children due to the COVID-19 pandemic public health mandates may have contributed to the recent surge in viral infections.
"Pandemic babies" who were guarded against respiratory pathogens because of measures like social distancing are also now getting sick. The lockdown mandates also disallowed the children to bask under the sun for Vitamin D as well as engage in physical and other socialization activities that could help boost their physiological and mental health.
Major pharmaceutical distributors such as CVS and Walgreens initially claimed that they were able to keep up with the increased need for amoxicillin. But parents nationwide are getting calls and texts that their pharmacies are actually out of the medication.
Sonika Patel, a pharmacist at Lo Cost Pharmacy in Savannah, Georgia said the drug has "been on backorder since October. That's when we've been having a big uptick in bronchitis and RSV and everything, so the demand for it is so high that people aren't able to keep up with supply," she told WTOC.
Respiratory infections in children now are much higher than in the last five years
According to Dr. Ben Spitalnick, a local pediatrician in Savannah, he's seeing more respiratory infections in children right now than he has in the last half-decade. "It [amoxicillin] gets the job done without over-treating, without putting a child on something stronger than needed so they don't develop a resistance," he said.
A New York doctor reported that lots of kids are being admitted to the hospital with more than one virus attacking their immune systems. The NY pediatrician believes the number of children hospitalized with RSV this year will exceed the approximately 60,000 hospitalized in a normal year as per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Marie Rojas, a mother of a child who tested positive for strep who was not able to get amoxicillin at CVS or Walgreens, said her child's condition worsened until ultimately he was admitted to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with pneumonia and RSV in addition to strep.
As per Rojas, children were being airlifted because there were so few beds available in pediatric intensive care units in the Chicagoland area.
Check out Infections.news for more updates on the current children's health situation linked to the shortage of amoxicillin.
Watch the video below that talks about how to make a strong and effective alternative and natural antibiotic.
This video is from the Natural Cures channel on Brighteon.com.
More related stories:
Colloidal silver: A safe and powerful natural antibiotic.
Can common antibiotics harm your heart? Research links them to increased risk of heart conditions.
#10YearChallenge with antibiotics: How antibiotics have become nearly useless over the past decade.
Are Antibiotics Irrelevant Because of Colloidal Silver?
Sources include:
Please contact us for more information.