High street health and beauty giant Boots has issued a warning to people who suffer from hay fever. It's estimated that a fifth of the UK adult population suffers with hay fever.
Now the UK is facing a shortage of some vital hay fever medicines, PA reports. It's because one key ingredient is in short supply.
Stocks of chlorphenamine maleate, the active ingredient in brands such as Piriton, have been affected, although other hay fever medicines are available. Piriton is available in places like Boots, Superdrug and Lloyd's Pharmacy. A spokeswoman for the pharmacy chain Boots said only four out of 90 hay fever products were affected and there was good availability of other hay fever items.
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She said: “At Boots we have a large range of hay fever relief medicines, with good availability of stock overall in our stores and online. There are a very small number of lines that are currently out of stock due to a current, industry-wide shortage of the active ingredient chlorphenamine maleate. However, we are expecting this to be resolved soon and new deliveries are expected in the coming weeks.”
Other hay fever medicines such as Piriteze use cetirizine hydrochloride and are still in plentiful supply. Royal Pharmaceutical Society president Claire Anderson said: “Chlorphenamine maleate is just one component of a few hay fever tablets, including Piriton, which is not a first line choice for treating hay fever for adults as it is more likely to make patients drowsy.
“Other medication using cetirizine hydrochloride or loratadine is still available widely in pharmacies across the country, and fexofenadine is also now available on general sale at pharmacies this year for the first time, so patients actually have more options than ever to treat their hay fever symptoms. Medicines shortages are not a new problem, and is something pharmacists and pharmacy teams have to manage and deal with on a daily basis, and have done for a long time. This can be for a multitude of reasons, including manufacturing issues, global demand or disruption with the supply chain.
