Price of liquid penicillin to fight Strep A is hiked by FOUR TIMES as supplies run out

Outbreak: Stella-Lilly McCorkindale, five, died in Belfast

Towns and cities across Britain are running out of antibiotics used to treat children with strep A amid accusations that drugs wholesalers are profiteering from the outbreak after increasing prices more than fourfold.

A Mail on Sunday survey of chemists from Truro to Glasgow yesterday found most had no or very low supplies of liquid penicillin. Pharmacies are now asking GPs for fresh prescriptions for tablets they can crush up.

It contrasts with the message in recent days from who have repeatedly stated there is no supplier shortage, who have repeatedly stated there is no supplier shortage.

The strep A bacteria, which can cause scarlet fever and in rare cases become ‘invasive’, triggering deadly sepsis, has claimed the lives of 16 children in the past month.

The latest, a pupil of 12 at a school in Hove, East Sussex, died on Friday.

The most common drugs to treat it are phenoxymethylpenicillin and amoxicillin. Children are usually given them as a syrup.

But of 36 chemists contacted across England, Wales and Scotland yesterday, 26 had no supplies of phenoxymethylpenicillin syrup, six had very low stocks while the other four had relatively normal supplies. One in Cardiff said it had been ‘flying off the shelves’, adding: ‘We ran out last week and have no idea when we’ll get more.’ A Sheffield chemist insisted: ‘There is a national shortage – despite what the Government says.’

Another in Maidstone, Kent, said: ‘We haven’t had any for weeks. Our warehouse can’t get it.’ One father told the BBC he called 17 pharmacies before he found it in stock.

Pharmacists claim wholesalers are inflating prices. The cost of amoxicillin syrup rose more than fourfold in a month, one East of England chemist said, providing screenshots showing a 100ml bottle at a strength for older children was £2.49 in mid-November but £11.22 now. The NHS pays pharmacies £2.69 to dispense it.

Victim: Hanna Roap, seven, of Penarth, Wales, died last month. The strep A bacteria has claimed the lives of 16 children in the past month

The most common drugs to treat Strep A are phenoxymethylpenicillin and amoxicillin (pictured) 

Midlands chemist Raza Ali said it was ‘profiteering’, adding that some pharmacists suspect wholesalers are hoarding stock to drive demand and raise prices.

He stressed he had no evidence of this with strep A antibiotics, but said it was common to see out-of-stock drugs become available after the Government agreed to pay more for them. ‘If they are hoarding stock, that’s putting people at risk,’ he said. Janet Morrison, of the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee, a go-between between chemists and Whitehall, said pharmacies were ‘helpless against market forces working against them’ and said all medicines had to be available, ‘and not at wildly inflated prices’.

Last Wednesday, the Healthcare Distribution Association, which represents wholesalers, said a ‘spike in demand’ was affecting supply.

It did not respond to questions about allegations of profiteering yesterday.

The Department of Health said: ‘There is no supplier shortage of antibiotics to treat strep A. Increased demand means some pharmacies are having difficulties obtaining certain antibiotics.’