Medical pressure on primary care and hospital care increased significantly late last year due to respiratory infections across the autonomous region, with the latest report from the Surveillance System for Acute Respiratory Infections (Sivira) showing that the system’s incidence rates as of the second week of 2019 will increase by 2024. Indicators of hospitalization and incidence of these viruses have improved in the Castile-La Mancha region, but the region remains the Spanish autonomous region with the highest incidence and hospitalization rates.
Specifically, the hospitalization rate across the autonomous region fell to 50.6 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the second week of the year, compared with 63.6 cases per 100,000 inhabitants the week before (the first week of the year), but is still higher than the national average of 100,000 residents per 100,000 residents. There are 28.4 cases per 10,000 people. The same is true for the incidence rate of acute respiratory infections, which is 1,532.6 cases per 100,000 people in the autonomous region and the national average is 926.6 cases.
Translated into specific data for the Albacete University Hospital complex, the number of hospitalizations due to acute respiratory infections (mainly influenza, coronavirus or respiratory syncytial virus) remains stable and shows a downward trend. Specifically, as of yesterday, 13 people have been hospitalized with the flu at CHUA, bringing the number of people hospitalized with the flu all season to 232, nearly similar to the total number of people hospitalized with flu infections this season due to COVID-19 within the Albacete hospital building. Due to the epidemic, the hospital has a total of 257 inpatients, 30% of whom have not been vaccinated. In addition to these income figures, about 10% of people died.
The outbreak of flu infections began on December 15, and by that date only 17 hospitalizations had been recorded since the flu season began in mid-October when the vaccination process began. One month later, the income increased 13 times, reaching 215 in one month.
In fact, data suggests that COVID-19 revenue may have replaced influenza revenue by 2024, while the reality a few weeks ago was very different. Currently, the General Hospital has recorded 106 coronavirus admissions so far this month, compared with 932 hospitalizations due to the virus in all of last year, according to Albacete General Care Management.
Other viruses. Regarding respiratory syncytial virus (one of the causes of bronchiolitis in children), five patients are currently hospitalized with this viral infection, bringing the total to 117 patients throughout the season.
In the second week of the year, the nationwide Covid-19 hospitalization rate was 3.2 cases per 100,000 inhabitants (compared to 4.8 cases per 100,000 hours the previous week). By age group, hospitalization rates were highest among children under one year old (24.1 cases per 100,000 people) and adults 80 years or older (24.5 cases per 100,000 people). This last group corresponds to the majority of those requiring hospitalization due to underlying pathological complications from COVID-19, with an increased number of cases requiring hospitalization compared to those with influenza infection.
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