Children’s Painkiller: Canada to Acquire 500K Additional Units in Coming Weeks – National

An additional special shipment of 500,000 units of children’s pain and fever medicine will be imported into Canada over the next three weeks as nationwide shortages continue amid a surge in viral illness.

The shipment is in addition to the emergency import of 1 million units of pediatric acetaminophen and ibuprofen that arrived in Canada this week and the doubling of domestic production of these drugs by some Canadian manufacturers.

Another shipment of painkillers for children from Australia is also on its way to hospitals.

Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said the shortage was caused by a huge increase in demand for these products, saying that the normal demand for pain and fever remedies in children in a normal year is about 300,000 to 400,000. I point out that it is a unit.

In November alone, Hareon, which makes Advil for children in Canada, produced 1.1 million units for the Canadian market, Duclos said.

“total supply [and] Imports have increased significantly in the past few weeks, so people will start to see a difference on pharmacy shelves,” the health minister said at a briefing on Friday.

“The problem, obviously, is that painkiller stocks have dropped significantly over the last month, starting in the summer… Respiratory virus circulation is at levels not seen in many years and above expected levels. At this time, demand is therefore very important.”

The surge in demand comes as Canada suffers its worst cold and flu season on record, with cases of influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and COVID-19 spreading across the country.

Canada’s chief medical officer, Dr Teresa Tam, said Friday that flu cases in particular rose sharply last week as the number of children and teens who contracted the flu was “abnormally high”.

“There’s a very steep rise, and the slope of (the flu) is steeper than any past season that I’m aware of,” she said.

Flu season has just begun, but the IMPACT network of 12 pediatric hospitals in Canada is reporting a spike in flu-related hospitalizations among children under the age of 16, Tam said. I’m here.

This led to a significant increase in pediatric hospitalizations, reaching levels not normally seen until the peak of the normal flu season, which usually occurs between December and January.

Because of this, Canadians can expect a difficult and prolonged cold and flu season, Tam said.

“Based on past season trends, high levels of influenza activity are likely to continue over the next few weeks, affecting all age groups.”

Nationwide, RSV cases have leveled off somewhat since last week, but cases of the virus are likely to remain elevated in the coming weeks, she added.

And according to Health Canada data, COVID-19 continues to infect and hospitalize thousands of Canadians.

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Duclos, Tam and Dr. Howard Njoo, Canada’s Deputy Chief Health Officer, vaccinated Canadians against the flu on Friday, keeping them up to date with COVID-19 vaccines and boosters and using an extra layer of protection. urged to do so. Call it “Vaccine Plus Practice.” These include wearing masks indoors in crowded places, washing hands frequently, covering coughs and sneezes, and staying home when sick.

As a demonstration of their own advice, Tam and Njoo didn’t remove their masks during an in-person briefing in Ottawa on Friday.

However, Duclos removed his mask when answering or speaking to reporters’ questions.

“As long as influenza, RSV, SARS-CoV-2, and other respiratory viruses continue to co-circulate at high levels, it is possible that one or more of these viruses will be encountered when interacting with others at school. If you’re not wearing a mask for the time being at work or in social settings, especially indoors,” Tam said.

“It makes sense to step up our Vaccine Plus practices to increase our level of defense, especially given our greatly expanded healthcare system and the significant impact on children’s hospitals.”

— Using files from The Canadian Press

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