(Reuters) – The United States has released doses of the antiviral flu drug Tamiflu through a national stockpile for the flu season amid surging demand, the health department said on Wednesday.
The country is seeing a spread in influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) as temperatures fall, presenting a triple epidemic threat along with COVID-19 during the year-end holiday period.
Hospitalizations caused by the influenza virus hit a decade high earlier this month, according to federal data.
The additional supply of Tamiflu would be made available to jurisdictions, including through the Strategic National Stockpile, which is the country’s largest store of medical supplies for use in a crisis.
(Reporting by Raghav Mahobe in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
