26,000 new admissions this week right after thanksgiving. it s not clear if that was the peak. respiratory virus activity remains high or very high in almost every state. the cdc estimates 18 million people have come down with the flu this season, and 12,000 have died. but if you re looking for cold or fever medicines for your child, you may find empty store shelves. a shortage of over the counter medicines for children has parents scrambling. a surge in respiratory illnesses is driving up demand, and pharmacies are struggling with low supplies or none at all. cnn s athena jones has details. it s brutal for all of us. reporter: melissa s 18-month-old twins are teething. we had an incident where one didn t eat for three days because he had so much pain. reporter: lately, she s struggled to find medicines to treat her boys, who generally fall ill at the same time. every drugstore within
welcome back to cnn this morning. 8:26 is your time on the east coast. we re talking winter temperatures gripping the area. from our affiliate kwwl. you can see snow-covered roads there, currently, it s zero degrees in waterloo. but when you add in the windchill, it feels like negative 26. if you ve been looking for cold or fever medication for your child, you can find that many of the store shelves are empty. the shortage of over-the-countermedicine for children has parents struggling. pharmacies are struggling with low supplies or they have none taat all. cnn s athena jones has more. reporter: melissa s twins are teething. we had an incident, one didn t eat for three days because we had so much teething pain.