Flu season is well-underway in Nueces County.
As of Feb. 2, flu cases have more than doubled since the beginning of the year.
Local pharmacist Ruben Garcia owns the Pediatric Pharmacy on Alameda Street.
“We gave out 45 bottles of the liquid and we ran out about 4 (p.m.),” Garcia said.
In just the last week, flu cases have soared. It’s taking Tamiflu off his shelves every day.
“The demand kept going up and up and up and we kept increasing our orders and before the end of the day, we’d run out,” he said. “I’m sure that happened at other pharmacies also, but the manufacturers and wholesalers haven’t been out of stock.”
Tamiflu, or a generic version, is meant to treat the flu early on. It shortens the duration of the time you have the flu.
Garcia and his staff are upping their order on the medicine each day.
And he says he expects to see this spike in cases for at least another week.
“I think it’s worse this year than last year,” Garcia said. “Last year was more or less a steady number of patients coming in. This year it just shot up from last week to this week a lot.”
Garcia recommends if you haven’t gotten your flu shot, it’s not too late.
He says not to worry if your pharmacy runs out of Tamiflu. Medicine is typically restocked within 24 hours.
