Flu medications tougher to find as flu cases spike in North Texas

Whether prescribed or over the counter, medications for the flu might be tougher to find as cases continue to spike across North Texas and the nation.

In the latest report from Dallas County ending on January 25, nearly 35% of flu tests were positive and 185 people were hospitalized due to the flu.

In the latest report from Tarrant County, 33% of flu tests were positive and visits to the emergency room rose from 6% to 28% in one week.

“Over a quarter of the people coming to the ER have flu-like symptoms,” Chief Epidemiologist at Tarrant County Public Health, Russ Jones said during a Fort Worth City Council meeting this week.

At a national level, the CDC’s latest report shows an increase in positive flu tests by nearly 30%.

“Seasonal influenza activity remains elevated,” the CDC said in the report. “CDC estimates that there have been at least 20 million illnesses, 250,000 hospitalizations, and 11,000 deaths from flu so far this season.”

The caseload, in turn, has trickled down to pharmacies.

“Hit or miss if it's in stock or not, it comes in spurts,” Heather Vlassis, pharmacy manager at Perrone Pharmacy in Fort Worth said. “(The flu) definitely keeps us busier than normal, but also increases the number of drugs we're ordering, trying to keep everything in stock. It's just trying to stay on top of everything.”

The case spike in Tarrant County, health officials said, can partly be attributed to the flu outbreaks in schools. In the last two weeks, the Tarrant County Health Department reported more than 40 outbreaks. According to a spokesperson for the department, an outbreak is when five or more cases happen in a high-density area including classrooms or locker rooms.

“As a school gets hit, the supply goes down low. As we get a little break, we can up the increase of the supply we have just in time for another school to get hit. And it goes right back out again,” Vlassis said.

Still, Vlassis said their job is to plan in order to be able to serve their customers.

“We definitely always try to over-order. We try to make sure we have an ample amount in stock every day. Hard to tell, though, how many you're going to go through in one day. So, we just tried our best to keep up as much as we can on hand,” Vlassis said.

While not as common, Perrone Pharmacy has had customers ask for Xofluza, a one-dose prescription that comes at a significantly higher price in comparison to Tamiflu.

“Much higher. It is a single dose, though,” Vlassis said. “So you get to take one dose and you're done. So, there's a benefit versus Tamiflu. That's five days.”

In the past few weeks, Vlassis said the bigger challenge has been to keep a consistent stock of over-the-counter medications.

“We can definitely get the prescriptions easier than the over-the-counter. I think people are being proactive. They're keeping a supply at home in case they start to feel symptoms so they're easier to get over the counter and people don't have to go to the doctor,” Vlassis said.

Some health professionals insist it is not too late for people to get their flu shot.

Frequent hand washing and use of hand sanitizer is recommended by health experts. They also encourage people to stay at home or not go to school or work if they have symptoms including fever.