Cough-Cold and Flu

In the United States, colds account for more visits to the doctor than any other condition, according to the American Lung Association. The common culprit behind spreading rhinovirus, the virus behind as many as 40% of all colds, is children — pediatric patients on average suffer from the symptoms of a cold between six and eight times each year. And given how highly contagious many colds are, that may explain why many adults get sick, too.

While the C/A/S tablet and liquid subcategories have seen little change in sales versus year-ago sales, the UR nasal subcategory saw impressive growth in the channels studied, due in large part to the recent Rx-OTC switch products in the nasal corticosteroid segment, driving sales up 15% in the food industry and up to10% in drug. (see Figure 1).

(To view the full report, click here.)

Overall, the sale of all sleep remedies were up 6.1% to $707.9 million across total U.S. multi-outlets for the 52 weeks ended Nov. 27, 2016, according to IRI. Procter & Gamble’s ZzzQuil still leads the category. Sales of the liquid formulation are outpacing category growth with an uptick of 8.4% to $85.3 million, or 12% of total category sales.

(To view the full Cough-Cold Report, click here.)

ATLANTA  — The flu is continuing to impact the United States, especially across the Southeast U.S. for the week ended Jan. 21 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Friday.

The proportion of outpatient visits for influenza-like illness was 3.4%, well above the national baseline of 2.2% and an increase from the week prior ILI report of 3.2%.

DEERFIELD, Ill.  — The Walgreens Flu Index for the week of Jan. 22 is picking up on significant rising incidence throughout the Lone Star State — the three markets with the greatest amount of flu incidence gains in the past week are all in Texas.

According to the Texas Influenza Surveillance Report, for the week ending Jan. 14, the percentage of doctor and hospital visits for influenza-like illnesses appoached 6%.  

For the week of Jan. 22, the top 10 markets as measured by flu activity were:

ATLANTA  — After a one-week decline in incidence, influenza activity climbed back to 3.3%, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Friday, where 3.3% of patient visits reported through the U.S. Outpatient Influenza-like Illness Surveillance Network were due to influenza-like illness. The increase in the percentage of patient visits for ILI may be influenced in part by a reduction in routine healthcare visits during the holidays, the CDC suggested, as has occurred in previous seasons.

This percentage is above the national baseline of 2.2%.

DEERFIELD, Ill.  — The Walgreens Flu Index is tracking a significant uptick in influenza across the Lone Star state, according to the company's weekly report.

The top 10 markets as measured by flu activity for the week of Jan. 15 are:

WASHINGTON  — The Consumer Healthcare Products Association on Thursday released the results of a recent poll of registered voters in Michigan showing they are strongly opposed to legislation that would require a prescription for over-the-counter cold and allergy medicines containing pseudoephedrine.