Pharmaceutical supplies remain unstable amid influenza epidemic
Patients are struggling to find prescription and over-the-counter medicines in pharmacies amid a nationwide outbreak of influenza as well as a global drug shortage.
“We have run out of supply for some prescription medicines for influenza, such as children’s fever reducer, lately. Some popular over-the-counter cold medicines like Theraflu have been in supply shortage as well,” a pharmacist who runs a drug store in central Seoul said on condition of anonymity, Thursday.
Another pharmacist, who also asked not to be identified, said his pharmacy is “allocated with six boxes of nighttime and daytime Theraflu every day,” which are sold out almost instantly.
“We have some over-the-counter cold medicines, but supplies for prescription drugs have been unstable for some time,” he said, citing global drug shortages and an import suspension as the main cause.
The drug shortage comes as influenza cases continue to rise this winter.
According to the Korea Pharmaceutical Information Service, Thursday, several flu medicines and fever reducers, including Tamiflu capsules and Tylenol tabs for children and adults, are listed as medicines of unstable supply and demand.
Chemotherapy drug 5-Fluorouracil (F-FU) is also in short supply, putting at risk anticancer treatments across the country.
The nationwide influenza outbreak has arrived in the first winter without mask mandates since the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency’s latest report of surveillance statistics of infectious diseases, the country saw 54.1 cases of influenza-like illness in every 1,000 outpatients between Dec. 10 and 16.
The figure fell slightly from the previous week’s 61.3 patients per 1,000 outpatients, which marked a record high since 2019. However, local clinics remain crowded with patients.
The recent outbreak is due to a lack of immunity against respiratory diseases other than the coronavirus, according to experts.
“For almost four years, people have not been exposed to influenza and cold viruses as they wore masks and took social distancing measures. Thus, people couldn’t naturally grow immune (to influenza), making the outbreak more virulent and contagious,” Chon Eunmi, a respiratory disease specialist at Ewha Womans University said.
In response, the health authorities formed a public-private consultative group to restore stability in the supply and demand of pharmaceuticals.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare held a meeting with medical experts last month to discuss ways to tackle the drug shortage and decided to request pharmaceutical manufacturers to increase production while increasing drug prices to stabilize the market.
However, some pharmacists call for the government to take stronger measures.