WA pharmacies run out of flu medicine

8th August 2009, 6:00 WST

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An unprecedented run on the antiviral medication Tamiflu in WA because of a spike in swine flu cases has left pharmacies without stock for days at a time.
  
Some patients say that despite getting a script from their doctor, they have battled to find a chemist that has the drug, particularly the child dosage.
   
Antivirals need to be taken within 48 hours of developing the first flu-like symptoms to reduce the severity of illness effectively and improve recovery time.
   
The shortage seems to be in pockets of the State, with several metropolitan GP clinics reporting no supply problems while some pharmacists have waiting lists to fill scripts.
   
Pharmacy Guild WA branch president Lenette Mullen said WA warehouses were getting limited allocations of Tamiflu once a week or every 10 days and were mainly filling back-orders from pharmacies. Then they had to wait another week or so to get further orders filled.
   
“Some pharmacies have run out and some have orders that will get filled once a week or every 10 days,” she said.
  
“Really, the only thing for people to do is to keep asking around, if they have difficulties and if they can’t find any, they should speak to a pharmacy and leave their prescription so it can be filled as soon as they get stock.”
   
A spokeswoman for Roche, which makes Tamiflu, said the nationwide demand was unprecedented because of the pandemic but it was filling orders on the same day and ensuring supply for WA.
   
Once it arrived in WA it was up to local distributors to get stock out to pharmacies as quickly as possible.
   
She said there had been supply problems with paediatric doses of Tamiflu but pharmacists were advised how to make up child doses from the adult product.
   
Latest Health Department data shows cases of swine flu appear to be at their peak in WA, making up about 95 per cent of all influenza cases reported.
   
The number of new cases has been levelling off but this is believed to be because fewer people are being tested.
   
By late yesterday, there had been 2802 cases of A/H1N1 in WA, with 32 people in hospital — 13 in intensive care. Six WA people with swine flu have died.

One thing we did not like....  the colored commercial syrups with the phen word.   yuk... makes one feel as if vibrating or jittery.   awful.   A nice steamy shower and ludens cherry cough drops by the bucket are good....warm drinks and chicken soup...any light soup does the trick.  lots of pillows warm rice pack at back of neck or placed against cheeks/sinuses ....and funny tv.  You couldn't pay me to take tamiflu.  Remember... Puffs Plus... very important.