Samuel Tebs is celebrating his sixth birthday, but his life depends on the balance of the country’s lack of infant formula.
Due to a rare genetic condition, the boy is unable to digest normal food and relies on EleCare Jr for daily nutrition. A product of Abbott Nutrition, this formula was one of those involved in a national recall after bacterial contamination was detected at the company’s main plant in Michigan.
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Samuel’s mother, Ali Tebus, said she was able to find an alternative that was relatively well tolerated when her son gave birth with a feeding tube or oral syringe, but as many have learned recently, Abbott Shutdown is Immediately Available Supply from Other Vendors.
Ali Tebbs prepares a prescription for his son Samuel at his parents’ home in Coronado.
(Nervin C. Sepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune)
Recently, it got so bad that she was forced to hunt down local salespeople and request samples, she said.
“Thankfully, she was able to send three cans so that we could feed him for the rest of the month,” Tebs said. “There were certainly some close calls, but they have always been offered.
“It’s not just Samuel. There are so many sweet, sweet kids who have to experience this.”
Indeed, the situation has become so serious that the county health department issued a health advisory to San Diego County doctors on Friday, “may be the result of inadequate infant nutrition secondary to prescription deficiency” medicine. I asked you to report a problem. “
Dr. Kelly Motadel, a county child health officer, said her office has so far found no direct evidence of harm to patients associated with deficiencies, but especially for women prescribing. It’s emerging on social media, where there’s growing concern about diluting and making your own using the recipes you find.
Feeding syringes for Samuel are stacked for immediate use. Samuel cannot eat orally, so he is fed through a feeding tube 2-3 times a day.
(Nervin C. Sepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune)
Retail formula shelves have been empty for weeks, and rushing parents use the same type of online search skills that many used last year to find deficient doses of the coronavirus vaccine. I am obliged to apply.
At this point, according to Motadel, these searches usually find supplies somewhere, even if there are only a few cans at a time.
“There are sporadic reports of problems,” Motadel said. “Some pediatricians have told me that their families are worried, but even if they aren’t easy to find, they haven’t actually experienced the lack of a prescription.”
In particular, their son had to fight hard every moment, so constant search is looking for the Tebs family. Doctors say Samuel can survive his birth because of a rare genetic disorder called the cantrell pentalogy that causes Samuel to have serious effects on the heart and lungs and leave the abdominal muscles unformed. I predicted I couldn’t.
The entire life story of her son survives only with the continued support of respiratory, feeding tubes, family and healthcare professionals, and it is necessary to ensure that all systems are maintained and functioning 24 hours a day. I have.
Ali Tebbs checks his son Samuel’s feeding tube with infant formula. Samuel is fed via a feeding tube 2-3 times a day, feeding takes about 1 hour and feeding at night takes about 10 hours.
(Nervin C. Sepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune)
She said it was particularly stressful to threaten his fragile presence with something as simple as a few cans of infant formula.
“You don’t want to be so dull, but it’s life or death,” she said. “You can’t go to the fridge and put whole milk in a milk bag. For most people, not just babies, but the number of children affected by this deficiency is decreasing.”
Situations like Samuel are rare, but they are by no means lacking. Rady Children’s Hospital’s home care program tracks 1,400 children in need of special milk powder and has a unique warehouse with a special warehouse that can mix ultra-special milk powder recipes formulated to meet very rare needs. Run the service.
As an example, hospital operator Chris Ave said he is a newborn with a metabolic disorder that causes a deficiency of enzymes that produce the chemicals needed for the brain and other types of development shortly after birth. According to her, fast gene sequencing allows doctors to discover these rare situations fast enough to change the newborn’s prescription and add ingredients that properly promote normal development. ..
Ali Tebbs holds his son Samuel’s hand before installing the feeding tube. Samuel is fed 2-3 times a day through a feeding tube.
(Nervin C. Sepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune)
In such situations, she said, formula supply disruptions could quickly turn from inconvenience to a serious threat.
“Some of these kids rely on very specific recipes to get all the elements they need to sustain life,” Abe said.
And there are many reasons why new mothers, even if they have a peaceful pregnancy, find themselves in step with the need to find yet another formula before their current supply runs out.
Sutoma Choudhury and Saptarshi Sinha arrived in San Diego in January from southern India and got a job at Qualcomm Inc., thinking they had enough time to have twins. The deadline was May 22nd. However, the twins arrived much earlier than expected on February 20, and the infection during the caesarean section prevented the stoma from receiving high doses of antibiotics and being unable to care.
Their son, Syamantak, remains in the hospital due to complications causing low blood oxygen levels, while his daughter, Ishwin, stays home for weeks. She continues to have high-calorie infant formula made by Infamil, which is especially hard to find, but to catch up with her growth charts, you need to make sure your baby accelerates and gains weight. ..
On Tuesday, May 17, 2022, the Formula Shelf is almost empty at the Target Store in Encinitas, California.
(Paul Sisson)
Looking at the grocery store’s website, the couple was able to stockpile some cans, but estimates for the six to eight weeks before supply begins to return to normal now seem a long way off.
“They gave me some options, but they aren’t widely available,” said Sutoma Choudhury. “Currently in stock, but eventually it will be gone. What would I do then?”
When she reached the bottom of each can, she scraped off all the spots on the bottom, she said.
“Now every little gram, it’s important, it’s very important,” she said.
Motadel said he wants parents who are trapped in this endless cycle of infant formula to know that infant formula is developing a special program to help alleviate the desperate situation. Before she decides to dilute infant formula or use an online recipe to make formula from milk powder and electrolytes (as some suggest), contact your doctor for help. She said it was best to get it.
“We don’t want them to make their own. If you’re under one year old, you don’t want to use milk without consulting your doctor. Use alternative protein-based powders and other alternatives. That’s not desirable, and we want to stay in touch with our healthcare providers, “says Motadel.
The American Academy of Pediatrics has more information on how to deal with shortages at healthychildren.org.
