Tamiflu shortage affects Central Florida

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — The Tamiflu shortage that affected parts of north and southwest Florida has moved into Central Florida.

Tamiflu is one of the medicines used to fight the flu.

Central Florida has already seen a spike in flu cases, and at least three deaths involving children have died across the state. An Orlando family said last week that their loved one died from the flu.

A spokesperson for Centra Care said they saw a record number of flu cases in Orlando, Wednesday with 291 flu cases.

Mother Marissa Sgambati said she had to travel from Orlando to Titusville to find one of the last bottles of Tamiflu for her daughter.

"Between the Tampa market, up into the Orlando market, Lake County, Orange County, Seminole County -- it was just very challenging," Sgambati said.

The panhandle region is seeing the largest increase in flu activity, health department officials said.

Pregnant women and adults under the age of 65 are visiting emergency departments more frequently because of the flu, health department officials said. Those two groups of people are most at-risk for contracting the flu.

People should stay home if they have the flu and return to work or school 24 hours after they no longer have a fever.

"Most hospitals are looking at their surge capacity plans. We're looking at supplies, making sure we've got plenty of masks and hand sanitizer, and our staffing is there," said Dr. Tim Hendrix with the Florida Hospital Centra Care.

Health department officials said it's not too late for people to get vaccinated against the flu. Click here to locate a flu shot location.

Channel 9's Angela Jacobs found out some places without Tamiflu are being restocked within hours, others are taking a day or two.

Cox Media Group