As the committee’s epidemiologists expected, the incidence of influenza virus infections began to fall last week and, according to official information, fell sharply. In fact, if there were 236 confirmed flu cases per 100,000 people just after Christmas, seven days later (the latest official data, between January 15 and 21) the rate would have dropped to 145 cases, equivalent to At the “low point of intensity”. Therefore, although the epidemic still exists, the impact on hospitals is much lower than it was in early and mid-January, as evidenced by the HUBU figures: yesterday about 40 patients were bedridden with influenza, compared with 15 days ago About 40 patients were bedridden with influenza. The number is around a hundred.
Experts believe that once 50 infections per 100,000 people are confirmed within a week, it constitutes an influenza epidemic. In this case, that threshold was exceeded just before Christmas, which helps the virus spread more quickly at social gatherings on typical dates. As a result, the incidence rate doubled within a few days and continued to rise until it exceeded the “average intensity” level (200 infections per week, always per 100,000 people), which put pressure on the health system. Especially emergency services (between Divino Valles PAC and HUBU, they serve nearly a thousand people a day at some point during the Christmas period), pulmonology and internal medicine.
(For more information, see this Wednesday’s print edition of Burgos Journal or here)