Jacksonville pharmacies report shortages of Tamiflu, flu vaccine

It’s peak flu season, and Jacksonville pharmacies report they’re running low on Tamiflu and the flu shot.

This, as the The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said upward of 84,000 people have been hospitalized this flu season.

“It’s scary,” said Marilynne Krause, who has a 4-month-old. “It’s very nerve-wracking. Your baby could get sick, and you don’t have anything that could help them.”

According to reports, federal officials said the shortages are due to high demand, saying this is the most widespread flu season in 10 years.

The CDC said about 7 million people have already gotten sick.

STORY: US flu season poised to be milder than last year's harsh one

“It’s hard to find people who still have the flu vaccine available,” said Dr. Sunil Joshi, the president of the Duval County Medical Society Foundation.

Dr. Joshi hopes we don’t have a repeat of last season.

"Last year was obviously a very bad year for the flu, over 30,000 hospitalizations in this country and almost 200 children who died from the flu last year, which is why we were pushing for people to get the flu vaccine a little earlier, September-October, just to make sure that they got the vaccine," Joshi said.
Krause just hopes her new family stays healthy.

“That’s really scary, especially with my baby being so young,” Krause said.

Dr. Joshi said if you have flu symptoms to go to the doctor in the first 24 to 48 hours.  He said after that, Tamiflu won't work.

STORY: Orange Park Medical Center doctors seeing increase in sepsis during this flu season

Cox Media Group