Local hospitals hit hard by flu supply shortage
Local hospitals are seeing shortages of Tamiflu and IV-fluid bags as deaths from flu and pneumonia hit epidemic levels nationwide.
“We are seeing very, very high numbers of flu cases,” said Dr. Paul Biddinger, head of emergency medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. “It’s different every single year, and the dominant strain this year seems to be very easily transmitted and cause more significant illness.”
The most recent data from the National Center for Health Statistics shows 9.7 percent of deaths during the week of Jan. 13 were caused by the flu and pneumonia — above the 7.2 percent threshold for what constitutes an epidemic.
MGH is seeing a shortage of the Tamiflu suspension, which is the liquid form used in children too young to take pills.
The hospital has seen three times as many flu cases as last year, Biddinger said, and last week the number reached a 10-year record.
Those who are vaccinated are still contracting the virus — AH3N2, a particularly vicious strain.
To make matters worse, hospitals still face increasingly dire shortages of IVfluid bags used to administer antibiotics and hydrate the sick after Hurricane Maria stymied the supplier’s production in Puerto Rico, said Dr. Peter Chai, emergency medicine physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
“We’re still in the midst of an IV-fluid shortage, and as people come in dehydrated and sick, they need fluids,” Chai said. “We’re in this mode where we’re trying to conserve fluids and be vigilant about it.”
During his 3 p.m. to midnight shift on Super Bowl Sunday, Chai said he saw three cases of pneumonia out of 25 patients.
“People are just much sicker this year,” Chai said.
MGH has seen 10 deaths and 150 hospitalizations related to the flu this season. Statewide, officials have recorded 5,708 confirmed influenza cases since October — and 1,646 just last week.
Last week, 1 of every 14 visits to doctors and clinics were for symptoms of the flu, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report. That’s the highest level since the 2009 H1N1 swine flu pandemic sickened millions of people worldwide.