Contagion boom and unobtainable medicines. L’seasonal flu this year it seems to be hitting harder and has unleashed a veritable assault on pharmacies. Products to treat the common symptoms of colds, coughs and sore throats, from nurofen to paracetamol to mucolytics and aerosol products are selling like hot cakes and starting to run out of warehouses. Also due to the increase in production costs and the unexpected arrival of the boom in infections: usually the peak is recorded in January-February, this year it will be reached in the week of Christmas.
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Untraceable drugs
In cities like Rome and Milan, the run to the pharmacy to find medicines to relieve flu symptoms. But parents often have to try multiple outlets to find all the medicines the pediatrician requires. Ibuprofen, antipyretics, sore throat sprays and even antibiotics and cortisone are in short supply. The reason is precisely the increase in flu infections: with over a million infections last week, the epidemic appears to be the worst in the last 50 years. But there are also productive reasons.
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Aifa, over 3 thousand medicines are missing
Not only the boom in infections, but also production reasons would be at the root of the shortage of drugs: Aifa reports 3,128 medicines lacking due to temporary unavailability or production difficulties. Among them, some commonly used against the flu. As Aifa (Italian Medicines Agency) communicates, the increase in the costs of packaging materials, such as glass and aluminum and the difficult availability of active ingredients weighs on production.
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Contagion boom
Meanwhile, the infections continue to grow. In Italy, over one million flu infections were recorded last week and could become one and a half million next week. The incidence has reached 50.2 cases per thousand assisted (on average there are 16 cases per thousand). A high circulation also due to two years of pandemic in which the use of masks and lockdowns have weakened our antibodies (which have come into less contact with viruses).
Use generics if you can’t find brand name drugs
A piece of advice in case of unavailability of commonly used drugs is to ask the pharmacist for the equivalent generic drug that has the same active ingredient.
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