Alberta Premier Danielle Smith addresses the children’s medication shortage in Edmonton, on Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022. The province has secured five million bottles of children’s acetaminophen and ibuprofen for Alberta families. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson
CALGARY – The Alberta government says it has secured another five million bottles of children’s medication for parents to manage fever and pain at home as pediatric hospitals continue to feel the strain of several respiratory illnesses.
Premier Danielle Smith said the government is working with Alberta Health Services and Health Canada to bring in the pediatric acetaminophen and ibuprofen.
“Just about every parent with young ones at home is frustrated and worried about the shortage of children’s over-the-counter medications right now,” Smith said Tuesday at a news conference in Edmonton. “Unfortunately, this shortage is an issue across the country, with Alberta being in the same boat as all the other provinces.
“It’s distressing to our families and to our health-care professionals when symptoms can’t be treated at home.”
Parents across Canada have been scrambling to manage their children’s fever and pain as rates of respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, and influenza skyrocket amid a dire shortage of the medications.
The federal government also imported one million units of children’s acetaminophen, commonly known as Tylenol, across the country late last month. Health Canada has distributed the children’s Tylenol to retailers and has also sent children’s ibuprofen, commonly known as Advil, to hospitals.
Health officials have said Alberta Children’s Hospital in Calgary and the Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton have been operating at or above 100 per cent of their normal capacity for most of November and into December.
Alberta Health Services, which delivers health care in the province, set up a heated trailer outside the emergency department at the Calgary children’s hospital last month to help with crowding and weather conditions.
It has also redeployed about 65 full- and part-time staff to the hospital from a facility that provides respite care for chronically and terminally ill children, and five of its outpatient clinics.
Smith said during the news conference that the health-care system is under strain.
When asked by a reporter what steps her government was taking to prevent children’s respiratory illnesses, Smith suggested the question was off-topic.
“Here’s the fact of the matter: We know we’ve been hit with RSV, COVID and influenza all at once,” she said. “Sadly, there isn’t a vaccine for RSV and it is the most common childhood illness.
“What people need to know is that when their child gets sick that they have the medication available for them so they can treat the influenza at home.”
A health official at Alberta Children’s Hospital said this week that the patients are primarily children with RSV and influenza, as well as some COVID-19 cases.
“Influenza and RSV are the major concerns,” Margaret Fullerton, senior operating officer, said late Monday afternoon.
There are, she said, measures people can take to prevent the spread of all three illnesses.
“If you are sick, stay at home. Wearing a mask is certainly something that will help when you are out in a big group of people,” Fullerton said. “With winter upon us and parties going on, there is that viral activity that can happen in this respiratory season.”
She said getting vaccinated also helps to prevent illness.
“We have really low vaccination for influenza, especially for children right now in Alberta,” she said. “The more flu vaccines we can get into children and families can really help.”
Alberta Health data shows just 15.3 per cent of children between the age of six months and four years old have had their flu shots. The target is 80 per cent for the age group.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 6, 2022.
