Table of Contents

• Going Around This Week: Croup

  • What is croup?

  • How to treat croup?

  • When to seek medical care for croup

• Major Recall Alert: Mupirocin Ointment

Going Around This Week: Croup

It’s amazing how quickly bugs can spread in a community, and we have a miserable one going around right now: Croup. In fact, I’ve seen a sharp increase in the number of croup cases in just the past two days.

What is croup?

Croup is a condition where the airway (especially around the voice box) gets swollen. That swelling causes a very characteristic barky cough (like a barking seal). Croup is often caused by the parainfluenza virus (not to be confused with influenza, which is totally different), but other viruses can also cause it. It affects younger kids the worst (due to their smaller airways). The virus that causes croup is contagious and spreads from respiratory droplets (cough, snot, and sputum).

How to treat croup?

There are a couple of home remedies you can try.

First, try wrapping your little one up and going out into the cold night air for a few minutes (ideal is 10-30 mins). As the child breathes in the cold, it can act like putting ice on the airway swelling and help settle the cough. Be warned that the first minute might result in more coughing (some people get a temporary spasm when exposed to cold that makes them cough) but be patient. I have spent many nights wrapped in blankets on my back porch as my oldest seemed to get croup every year when he was young.

The second home remedy is to take your little one into the smallest bathroom with a shower and turn it as hot as it will go. Make the whole bathroom steamy and allow the child to breathe in the steam, which will often help break up the mucous and settle the coughing. Obviously, I like trying the remedies in listed order as going out into the cold after being all sweaty is miserable.

When to seek medical care for croup

Croup often needs medical attention (even after trying the home remedies). If the child appears to be struggling at all to breathe (e.g., breathing fast, non-stop coughing, using the muscles in the chest to help breathe, etc.), seek immediate medical care. Treatment will usually involve steroids (to decrease airway inflammation). Sometimes the child is so bad off that he/she will need inhaled medications (like racemic epinephrine) or even oxygen.

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Major Recall Alert: Mupirocin Ointment

This is a big one, folks. One that warrants extra attention because it’s prescribed OFTEN. 

It’s an antibiotic ointment call Mupirocin. We use and prescribe it all the time. In fact, 2 MILLION tubes of mupirocin ointment distributed by Glenmark Pharmaceuticals are under recall for sub-potency, according to the FDA. This means the medication won’t work as well.

At the end of last week, I got a number of pharmacy notifications about this recall. While my office called all the prescriptions we were notified of, I am certain that it is not all that we have prescribed (this is because only one major pharmacy chain sent us a list of all the patients who had filled the script under my name).

So, here’s what to do:

1. Find your tube of Mupirocin ointment.

2. Locate the lot number on the bottom of the tube. (Note: If you can’t locate the lot number, contact the pharmacy where you filled the medication, and they should be able to confirm if your prescription was affected.)

3. If your tube’s lot number matches the list below, you should NOT use this medication. Either throw the medication away or take it back to the pharmacy where it was filled for a replacement from an unaffected lot.

The recall affects Mupirocin ointment, 2%, in 22-gram tubes (NDC 68462-180-22) from the following lots:

• 19223615, 19223537, 19223544, 19223568, 19223593, and 19223641 (Exp. 8/24);

• 19224055, 19224281, 19224307, 19224321, 19224341, and 19224467 (Exp. 9/24);

• 19224525, 19224542, 19224560, and 19224580 (Exp. 10/24);

• 19224990, 19224998, 19225014, 19225033, 19225293, 19225304, 19225320, 19225349, 19225367, 19225379, and 19225401 (Exp. 11/24);

• 19230115, 19230123, 19230132, 19230137, 19230167, and 19230170 (Exp. 12/24);

• 19230572, 19230607, 19230614, 19230628, and 19230631 (Exp. 1/25); and

• 19230874, 19230925, 19230941, 19230957, 19230976, 19231232, 19231238, 19231282, and 19231285 (Exp. 2/25).

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