Amoxicillin Is In Short Supply

[ThatRobGuy]

An Amoxicillin Shortage Is Stressing Families Out. Here’s What To Know If You Or Your Child Needs This Antibiotic.

The shortage of this liquid antibiotic, which is often the first-choice treatment for children’s ear infections and other problems, is expected to last several months.

www.buzzfeednews.com

The shortage of this liquid antibiotic, which is often the first-choice treatment for children’s ear infections and other problems, is expected to last several months.

The FDA placed the medication on its drug shortages list last month, but parents and caregivers are starting to feel the impact, asking for advice on social media over concerns their children may not get the treatment they need. Some are seeking alternatives to help with bronchitis, ear infections, and strep throat, among other illnesses.

The AAP first recommends that pediatricians ensure their patients need antibiotics before prescribing them, given that many infections in children are caused by viruses, not bacteria.

Giving antibiotics to people who don’t really need them can lead to antibiotic resistance: when germs develop the ability to defeat the drugs made to kill them. CDC data released in 2016 showed that at least 30% of antibiotics prescribed in the US are unnecessary, putting patients at risk of allergic reactions and deadly diarrhea in rare cases.

"Talk to your child’s pediatrician if your child is sick, and only give antibiotics if they are definitely indicated," Shu said.

Doctors may recommend “watchful waiting” for some infections, particularly in older children with mild symptoms; research suggests that using pain relievers and monitoring children for two to three days before prescribing antibiotics can result in some bacterial ailments, like ear infections, resolving on their own.



I've seen a few other articles discussing the subject as well attributing the shortages to the factors of
A) Demand increasing due to people wanting to get it prescribed for things like viral infections (in which case there's no point since it doesn't work on those)
B) Certain manufacturers claiming production numbers are still down and not up to pre-covid levels

 

[DaisyDay]

Is it time to raid Fido's medicine box again?

 

[wing2000]

The AAP first recommends that pediatricians ensure their patients need antibiotics before prescribing them, given that many infections in children are caused by viruses, not bacteria.

This has always been a problem IMO....MD's over prescribing antibotics (though secondary infections from viruses is a concern)....or parents demanding them. But why the shortage now? I suspect it's related to the severe outbreak of respiratory viruses this year....

Epidemiologist Katelyn Jetelina notes on 6 Dec:​

"There are a lot of sick people in the United States right now.

​

(Source: CDC)
This level is truly unprecedented; we’ve never seen such high levels of ILI activity at this time of year. The map above is typically green (see below for this time in previous years). In fact, notice that before 2019, we didn’t even have the dark red/purple colors.

​

ILI Map by Year (Source: CDC) Note: You will notice that 2020-2021 are very green (although COVID-19 was high). There are many epidemiological reasons for this, including people avoiding doctors offices at the time.

--see her blog here:

Katelyn Jetelina | Substack

An epidemiologist trying to make sense of this world

substack.com

 

[ThatRobGuy]

Is it time to raid Fido's medicine box again?

Lol, actually, if someone was going to insist on taking a veterinary medicine... Amoxycillin formulations intended for 30-40lbs Dogs would be safer (at least in terms of the dosage levels) than the livestock dosages of antiparasitics people were trying to take before for other things...

 

[DaisyDay]

This has always been a problem IMO....MD's over prescribing antibotics (though secondary infections from viruses is a concern)....or parents demanding them. But why the shortage now? I suspect it's related to the severe outbreak of respiratory viruses this year....

Epidemiologist Katelyn Jetelina notes on 6 Dec:​

"There are a lot of sick people in the United States right now.

​

(Source: CDC)
This level is truly unprecedented; we’ve never seen such high levels of ILI activity at this time of year. The map above is typically green (see below for this time in previous years). In fact, notice that before 2019, we didn’t even have the dark red/purple colors.

​

ILI Map by Year (Source: CDC) Note: You will notice that 2020-2021 are very green (although COVID-19 was high). There are many epidemiological reasons for this, including people avoiding doctors offices at the time.

--see her blog here:

Katelyn Jetelina | Substack

An epidemiologist trying to make sense of this world

substack.com

What does ILI stand for?

I'm glad my household is vaccinated for flu and covid (bivalent). We had some kind of cold a couple weeks back and that was miserable enough for me - especially the lingering bronchitis.

 

[wing2000]

What does ILI stand for?

I'm glad my household is vaccinated for flu and covid (bivalent). We had some kind of cold a couple weeks back and that was miserable enough for me - especially the lingering bronchitis.

From her blog:

"Every Friday the CDC updates their “influenza-like illness (ILI)” data. This is a database in which providers tally patients that presented with ILI—a fever and a cough and/or sore throat—at their office. So these numbers include everything (flu, RSV, COVID-19, etc.) and are a general indication of the climate of respiratory of health in the United States."

 

[Don't Panic]

Google is my friend too, IL I Influenza Like Illness.

 

[ThatRobGuy]

This has always been a problem IMO....MD's over prescribing antibotics (though secondary infections from viruses is a concern)....or parents demanding them.

Not sure if doctors have the ability to or not (or if there would be ethical questions at play), but there should be special set of NDCs that correlate to placebos (or some statistically negligible amount of something like potassium) that allows the doctor to let the pharmacist know "Hey, I don't think this person needs anything, but they refused to leave my office until I prescribed them something"

It looks like to a certain degree, some already do that for some things:

50% of Doctors Prescribe Placebos

Survey: More than half of internal medicine and rheumatology doctors offer fake prescriptions to make patients feel better -- and most doctors think that's OK.

www.webmd.com

Doctors admit prescribing placebos - CNN.com

Placebos, or "sugar pills," have been used in medicine since ancient times. Today, most placebos are given in clinical trial studies for new drugs. A study in the January 2008 issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine found that 45 percent of Chicago, Illinois, internists report they...

www.cnn.com

Seems like "parent thinks their child will get better if I give them z-pak, and are refusing to take no for an answer" would be a prime candidate for such an approach.