The surge in respiratory illnesses such as RSV, influenza and COVID-19 has been going on for months, and cold medicine is becoming even more difficult to find at both local and nationwide stores.
These days, there are quite a few parents feeling the consequences, like Jen Labo.
“It's really hard, and it’s already hard,” she said.
It is hard, especially with respiratory illnesses running rampant. As a parent, you run to the store and search for some kind of relief, but more and more, what you’re seeing is an empty shelf.
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“We went to CVS, we went to Walgreens and I said 'That’s it, let’s just go to a pediatrician and get the real stuff,'” said Akeen Bryan, of West Hartford.
Demand for cold medicine is soaring, and to control supply, CVS announced “a two product limit on all children’s pain relief products.”
Meanwhile, Walgreens is limiting its customers to six over-the-counter pediatric fever reducers.
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“You have so many kids out there that are getting sick at the same time, you have a lot of parents going to the store at the same time to get the same medicines,” said Dr. Beth Natt, a physician at Connecticut Children’s.
Natt said for young children, particularly those just a few months old, a fever can be a sign of serious infection in which case it’s best to consult a pediatrician.
In other cases, cold medicine is more of a short-term fix.
“Kids have fever, sometimes they don’t want to eat or drink well, sometimes they’re really tired and want to sleep a lot, and by treating that fever, we just want to make them more comfortable,” Natt said.
When it comes to treatment, Natt said generic brands are just as safe as name brands, but what’s most important is the dosage and form of the medicine.
“For our younger children, you want to make sure that you’re using something that’s liquid, and you want to make sure that until your child is as big as an adult that you’re not using adult dosing or adult pills to treat those children,” she said.
In statements, Johnson & Johnson and Procter and Gamble both said they’re not experiencing any supply chain shortages, just significant spikes in demand.
