Pharmacies are out of stock of amoxicillin.
The Spanish Medicines Agency (AEMPS) has launched 12 alerts in the last month that are still active due to lack of supply of this antibiotic in its various types and from the different laboratories that produce it.
Amoxicillin is one of the most common pediatric remedies and the lack of stock on the shelves of some pharmacies, especially syrups, worries pediatricians and families.
"The situation worries us a lot," admits the Catalan Society of Pediatrics.
Amoxicillin is a broad-spectrum antibiotic used to treat bacterial infections and belongs to the medicines called penicillins.
Doctors generally prescribe it to combat sinusitis, otitis, tonsillitis, pharyngitis, and pneumonia in children.
The problem is that given the shortage of stocks, families have to go back to the consultations to request another medical prescription when they cannot find it in the pharmacies.
Patients cannot start or continue treatments immediately and doctors overload their schedule with a visit that was already arranged.
"There are few medicines with the same composition that can replace amoxicillin," admits Marta Roig, member of the Official College of Pharmacists of Barcelona (Cofb).
The shortage is majority in syrups, the most comfortable type for families and children.
And without the oral format, pediatricians have to explain alternative mothers and fathers that can sometimes be complex.
Pediatricians propose to dilute tablets with a similar composition and calculate the doses depending on the weight of children.
"We have to make sure that families understand it well," explains Anna Gatell, president of the Catalan Society of Pediatrics.
The concern of doctors is that an imprecise administration of the necessary dose or an interruption of the treatment generates resistance to antibiotics.
"The situation worries us a lot," Gatell insists.
Irregular drug production is not so strange.
Companies may suffer limitations in the production or supply of their products and have the obligation to notify the AEMPS so that it is aware.
Experts, however, admit that lately the problems are more common.
"Supply limitations have been fluctuating for some time, it is not something new, but in recent weeks the situation has worsened, especially in the case of amoxicillin," adds Roig.
The Cofb member values the current delays as a "moderate" problem that can become "serious" in the short term.
Sources from the AEMPS defend that at the moment there has not been a "therapeutic gap", a situation where patients have not been able to find a solution to their pathology,
Of the 12 notices made in the last month by the Agency, five correspond to the pharmaceutical company Sandoz, one of the largest producers.
The company informed the AEMPS that it has problems in the "production of the leaflets" that go inside the boxes and in the "packaging line" of the product itself.
Roig explains that "active ingredients are missing and there are also distribution problems".
The Ministry of Health asked the rest of the laboratories to increase their production, but for the moment they are still not satisfying the excess demand.
Roig points out that there are also difficulties in the supply of other common medicines, such as Primperan (for nausea and vomiting), ophthalmological and antifungal ointments.