Antibiotics shortage causes concerns locally

Alex Simone, St. Joseph News-Press, Mo.
·2 min read

Nov. 25—A shortage of antibiotics is hitting communities around the world, and St. Joseph is no exception.

The issue is having a significant impact on Tamiflu, which is used to treat the flu, and amoxicillin, though it's expected to start having a bigger impact on other antibiotic products, Rogers Pharmacy licensed pharmacist Julie-Marie Nickelson said.

"When one medication goes down, the others tend to follow just because they also are trying to, not only cover what they already had, but now cover a shortage on top of it," she said. "We're changing where we can to other antibiotics. (But) also, pressing the importance that if they don't think it's bacterial, if they think it's viral, is an antibiotic really the right option?"

The concerns coincide with surging numbers worldwide and in the U.S. of the flu and RSV. That could have served as a warning sign that the production of antibiotics needed to be ratcheted up, Nickelson said.

"We would have hoped that the suppliers would have picked up from there," she said. "However, I do realize that drug manufacturing takes a lot of time, so they may not have been able to foresee far enough. However, I feel like if they had anticipated it better, we might have had a little bit more warning."

One option might have to be using different forms of antibiotics, like tablets instead of a liquid dosage, or crushing up a pill or tablet and mixing them in with food like yogurt.

But that is only a temporary option, Nickelson said.

"We don't know how far that's going to go," she said. "But again, right now, a lot of it is getting, even the face tablets and capsules, those are starting to get shorter."

Some pharmacies, like Rogers Pharmacy, might be able to do drug compounding, Nickelson said.

Drug compounding is "combining, mixing, or altering ingredients to create a medication tailored to the needs of an individual patient," according to the Food and Drug Administration.

Alex Simone can be reached at alex.simone@newspressnow.com. Follow him on Twitter at @NPNOWSimone.