The collapse that emergency rooms are experiencing these days is the clearest symptom of a problem that affects the entire Rioja health system and is first detected in primary care. Ana Bas Angulo, president of the Association of Primary Care Physicians (Semergen) in La Rioja, Spain, estimates that symptoms related to influenza A or the new coronavirus currently account for 70-80% of consultations with family doctors. .
Local authorities have released figures on rising respiratory virus incidence, based on primary care detections in the last week of 2023. Regarding influenza, the incidence rate in La Rioja is 124.37 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, a 50% increase from the previous week’s 82.91 cases. For their part, COVID-19 cases dropped from 60.09 cases per 100,000 in the last days of 2023 to 45.64. Christmas gatherings are expected to further boost these figures.
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Yesterday, walk through any health center in Rioja and you would see a similar sight. At the Hotel Espartero in Logroño, the reception was quiet, no crowds, just a young man waiting. In the clinic on the first floor, there were coughs on both sides of the corridor, and most of the patients on the waiting table were wearing masks that even the health center did not have. Clear indication of the reason for consultation.
“For two weeks we have had a very high incidence, a lot of influenza. People are being consulted with a runny nose, cough, headache, sore throat, fatigue, low-grade fever… This is the most typical of these cases,” said Spanish Primary Care explains association president Ana Bas Angulo. Doctors in La Rioja… “We are at the crest of a wave that will continue until the middle of this month,” he added.
Ana Bas Angulo highlighted the return of masks, “which was almost impossible to see before the pandemic except for some immunosuppressed people”, and who valued raising awareness among the population, Although she asked those affected to take the “precautions” we all know and treat. At home, if mild symptoms occur, as in most cases, use paracetamol, steam, mucolytics, drink plenty of fluids such as broths and infusions, rest…”, “If more severe symptoms occur, see a doctor Or the emergency room.” “Seriously.”
A simulation was carried out this Wednesday morning in several centers in Logroño, with a dozen requests for appointments with family doctors through the Rioja Salud app, but not a single case was treated this week. The first appointment was made on Monday in La Guindalera. Two more (Joaquín Elizalde and Gonzalo de Berceo) arrived on Tuesday, and the rest arrived seven or eight days after the request (Cascajos, Espartero, Gonzalo de Berceo and Siete Infantes).