North Carolina is distributing Benadryl and EpiPens as yellow jackets swarm from Helene flooding
North Carolina health workers are distributing Benadryl and epinephrine injections to communities after hurricane flooding has caused bees and yellow jackets to swarm from their underground nests
Deadly flooding from Hurricane Helene in western North Carolina has also disrupted the underground nests of yellow jackets, bees and other insects, causing them to swarm and sting people struggling to recover from the storm.
It's caused such a surge in requests for medication to protect people allergic to stings that the the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is buying Benadryl and epinephrine injections to help fill requests through hospitals, emergency medical personnel and doctors. And the humanitarian aid group Direct Relief says it has sent more than 2,000 EpiPen injections to community health centers, clinics and pharmacies across western North Carolina.
“With every disaster, we get requests for EpiPens but this one is definitely an outlier,” said Alycia Clark, Direct Relief's chief pharmacy officer. Many of the people coming in with stings are electricians working to restore powerlines and other outdoor workers, Clark said.
Pharmacists in the state can also provide emergency refills for people who are already prescribed allergy medications, according to a state health department spokesperson. The state is planning to allow people to buy epinephrine injections such as EpiPens without a prescription, and it is working to collect and distribute donations of medicines.
