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An ongoing shortage of fluids used to deliver medicine and treat dehydrated patients has hospital workers scrambling in the midst of a nasty flu season and supplies from factories in storm-ravaged Puerto Rico have been slow to rebound.
Supplies of saline and nutrient solutions were already tight before hurricanes pounded Puerto Rico and cut power to manufacturing plants that make much of the U.S. supply of fluid-filled bags used to deliver sterile solutions to patients.
I read this the other day. Hopefully things stabilize soon. The flu is hitting hard this year, and many hospitals are full. At the large Children's Hospital here in Houston, 25% of the inpatients are there due to flu. The hospital where my husband practices is at bed capacity, and many surgeons are canceling elective procedures temporarily.
There was a long thread in the P&C forum a week or so ago that blamed the decision of the NHS in the UK to start canceling elective procedures due to flu on "socialized medicine". Any posts that accurately pointed out that the same thing is done in the U.S. (and everywhere else) when necessary, were pretty much ignored.
I've only had the flu once, thankfully. I was 10 and wasn't hit too hard by it. I remember I had to miss a week of school and I didn't understand why. I know the flu can be ugly. But why would flu patients be so dehydrated when it attacks your respiratory system?
My friend works in a hospital and she said people are saying the flu shot wasn't effective this year. Hopefully they can get the supplies they need.
I've only had the flu once, thankfully. I was 10 and wasn't hit too hard by it. I remember I had to miss a week of school and I didn't understand why. I know the flu can be ugly. But why would flu patients be so dehydrated when it attacks your respiratory system?
My friend works in a hospital and she said people are saying the flu shot wasn't effective this year. Hopefully they can get the supplies they need.
Fever increases fluid loss.
People can be so sick that they are unable to take fluids by mouth.
This year's flu vaccine is less effective, particularly against one of the circulating strains, but not completely ineffective. It is still worth taking it, as you may not get as sick even if you still catch the flu.
The best thing to do, with a priceless life-sustaining health product, like IV saline, is to concentrate all the production in one area. How about we produce them all over the USA?
People can be so sick that they are unable to take fluids by mouth.
This year's flu vaccine is less effective, particularly against one of the circulating strains, but not completely ineffective. It is still worth taking it, as you may not get as sick even if you still catch the flu.
Thank you. I hadn't thought of the fever aspect, that makes sense. It's scary how bad the flu really get.
The best thing to do, with a priceless life-sustaining health product, like IV saline, is to concentrate all the production in one area. How about we produce them all over the USA?
There are other companies in the States that produce IV bags, the shortage existed before the hurricanes, long before- back to 2015. It's been policy since mid-2013 to distribute what is manufactured to where it is needed most. Basically, this is nothing new. There's also something like 72 medications deemed scarce unrelated to hurricanes and such, it's a supply/demand issue.
The actual manufacturing process of saline ivs incredibly time intensive; 29 steps over 10 days to ensure quality and sterility. So even with other locations already at capacity production, including PR, there has been a long-term shortage.
The FDA, back in October, granted permission for Baxter International to import saline and other solutions from their overseas facilities in Ireland and Australia.
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