Supplies of hay fever drugs are running low due to a shortage of common allergy drugs, as Met Office forecasts warn of high pollen levels in the coming days.
Stocks of chlorphenamine maleate, the active ingredient in Piriton and other hay fever drugs, are running low across the industry, according to Boots.
All adult Piriton tablets are available online at Boots, Lloyds Pharmacy and Coop Pharmacy, although there are still Piriton syrups for children.
This shortage coincides with forecasts of high pollen for most of England and Wales over the next few days, according to the Met Office.
Mid-May may be the worst time for many hay fever sufferers, as this is when the two main types of pollen – from trees and grasses – separate at the same time.
Tree pollen to which one in four hay fever sufferers is allergic is usually released from late March to mid-May, while grass pollen season, to which more people are allergic, often begins in mid-May and lasts until July .
The shortage of allergy drugs seems to be limited to formulations containing chlorphenamine maleate, with other antihistamines being more widely available. Overall, there appears to be a good supply of drugs using cetirizine hydrochloride, including Piriteze, Benadryl, Allacan and generic brands.
Chlorphenamine and cetirizine are effective drugs for the treatment of hay fever. However, the NHS says some people will find that a drug works better for them.
The drug that is deficient, chlorphenamine, can make consumers drowsy, which is good for those for whom hay fever means struggling to sleep.
Cetirizine is less likely to make users feel drowsy, according to the NHS.
Wider shortage of drugs
The news comes amid a wider problem of drug shortages in the UK. Two-thirds of pharmacists say they face supply problems every day, according to a study by the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiation Committee published last month.
The committee also noted that three-quarters of pharmacists had to deal with aggressive patients who were told they could not receive the medicines they were prescribed.
Specific problems have been observed in the provision of hormone replacement therapy (HRT), with restrictions being placed on some stockpile management drugs. The government said demand for HRT has risen “dramatically” recently with a 38% increase in the number of prescribed products over the past seven years.
Problems with global supply chains and Brexit have also put pressure on the availability of other drugs in recent years.
Problems with hay fever drugs will be “solved soon”
Hay fever may worsen in the coming years as climate change prolongs pollen season. In the last three decades, the hay fever season has risen by 20 days in North America, according to data released last year.
The warming climate also has the potential to welcome a variety of plants in the UK that would produce more pollen, according to the Weather Service. The organization notes that one ragweed plant, an invasive species, can make a billion grains of allergic pollen each season.
Daily changes in the weather can also affect the severity of hay fever symptoms, which include itchy eyes, runny nose and a sore throat.
Windy days tend to cause more severe symptoms as more pollen is blown out of the plants and circulates in the air. On the other hand, rainy days can wash away pollen and as a result make hay fever lighter.
A Boots spokesman said: “There are very few lines that are currently out of stock due to the current shortage in the whole industry of the active ingredient chlorphenamine maleate.
“However, we expect this to be resolved soon and new deliveries are expected in the coming weeks.
Sarah Kent, a meteorologist at the Met Office, said: “Pollen levels will be high in much of the UK on Monday and Tuesday. At the moment it is mostly wood pollen, [but] the grass season is just beginning.
“You may start to notice more symptoms if you are sensitive to pollen.
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