Rise in respiratory illness leading to shortage of children’s medications

The rise in respiratory illness is leading to a shortage of children’s medicine. Some local parents report spending hours going from pharmacy to pharmacy to find medicine like children’s Tylenol.

“We couldn’t find Tylenol anywhere. Anywhere! I called all the way to Stanwood. My mom’s searching. My sister in Arizona has been searching,” said Lake Stevens mom Angela.

Children’s Tylenol is a medicine many parents are relying on as unprecedented numbers of Washington kids are fighting respiratory viruses such as RSV, COVID-19, and influenza.

Dr. Tu said it’s an issue of supply and demand.

“This is just because we’re seeing such a huge number, a huge percentage of the population becoming infected all at once,” said Tu. “There’s clearly a huge amount of influenza — the flu. The CDC is reporting that this is the highest spike and positive test rates that they have seen in over 10 years. And that’s certainly consistent with what we’re seeing in our laboratory.”

He said that unlike adults, kids are contagious with the flu for longer, which can provide more opportunities for the virus to spread. In turn, there’s been an increasing demand for children’s Tylenol. He said the shortage has been going on for several weeks. He also shared concerns about shortages in children’s Motrin and Tamiflu.

KIRO 7 also spoke with mom Hanna. She agrees that finding medicine like infant Tylenol has been extremely difficult.

“There’s nothing on the shelves,” said Hanna. “There’s very, very little. I’ve tried big box retailers like Costco, Target and Walmart. I’ve tried smaller ones, like mom and pops. Local drugstores, they’re out.”

She said she often keeps a backstock of medicine for her children, but that her supply has quickly dwindled after sharing with fellow moms in need and taking care of her own children, including one child with special needs. She said having the medicine they need is a necessity.

“When you have kids that are going to have seizures when their fever spikes, and they can’t get their kids Tylenol — like we’re causing long-term damage,” said Hanna. “It’s not just, ‘Oh, your kid has a headache and a stuffy nose and they’re going to be extra grumpy.’ It’s like, ‘No, this is a problem.’”

Both Hanna and Angela have relied on friends and Facebook groups to search for the medicine. In one post to a Lake Stevens group, several dozen parents weighed in with stores that had Tylenol in or out of stock. Each, trying to provide support during this time of need.

Tu said that because the medicine shortage is being led by the spike in cases, he expects the shortage to end only when influenza case numbers go down. But he outlined the challenges in making that happen, saying young children get infected at a higher rate than adults, spread influenza more effectively, and are contagious for the longest period of time.

In the interim, he’s asking parents and children to stay vigilant by washing hands, wearing masks, isolating when necessary, and getting vaccinated.

“It’s much easier to prevent a problem than it is to treat a problem, right? And what vaccines do is they try to prevent the infection,” said Tu.

For parents unable to find children’s Tylenol, he suggests also looking for the medicine by its generic brand name, acetaminophen. He also warns against parents trying to convert adult Tylenol tablets for children’s use. He said doing that creates a risk for a child to overdose, which could cause severe liver damage.

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