Shoppers all across the country have been warned of low Calpol stocks on high street shelves.
Many high street pharmacies and chemists have reportedly been affected by the stock shortages which also affect Lemsip and Gaviscon. In January, chemists initially reported nationwide shortages of medicine, especially children's antibiotics, due to a rise in Strep A cases over the winter period, Birmingham Live reports.
Many have pointed to "factory constraints" and "issues with the production of the raw ingredients used to make common drugs in China and India" as part of the problem. However, people are being warned to not hoard the medicines over fears of stocks running out.
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Dr Leyla Hannbeck, chief executive of the Association for Independent Multiple Pharmacies, told the Daily Mail: "Supplies of liquid paracetamol and ibuprofen, which are given to children to ease pain, are very low indeed.
"Pharmacists are spending a lot of time trying to ensure we get drips of medicines coming through – at least one variant of each – so patients are not left completely high and dry. It's not just children's painkillers that are affected – it's a range of other very common medicines including Sterimar congestion relief nasal spray for babies, Lemsip, Gaviscon, Optrex and [constipation treatment] Senokot."
She added: "Please don't hoard these medicines – there's no need to be concerned and pharmacists are doing everything they can to ease the situation."
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said in a statement today: "We know how distressing and frustrating medicine supply issues can be, but we want to assure people that we have well-established processes with an aim to prevent supply issues occurring in the first instance, and to manage or mitigate them when they occur. We work with a wide range of organisations operating in the UK medicine supply chain to provide advice and help ensure that patients continue to have access to safe and effective treatments."
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