Madrid, January 2 (European Media) –
The Autonomous Community of Madrid ends 2023 with a 27.7% increase in the number of new Covid-19 cases in the last week among the population over 60 years old, and an 84.64% increase in the number of confirmed cases of influenza in the past seven days.
Specifically, during the week of December 25-31, there were 1,447 new cases of Covid-19 among people over the age of 60, with an incidence rate of 90 per 100,000 inhabitants; there were 11,324 cases of influenza, with an incidence rate of 90 per 100,000 inhabitants, according to the Ministry of Health The latest weekly epidemiological report puts the number of cases per 100,000 inhabitants at 167.75, well above the epidemic threshold.
On the other hand, the incidence of respiratory syncytial virus infection in primary medical institutions dropped from the previous week, and cases of bronchitis/bronchiolitis in children aged 0-4 years fell by 37.4%.
Thus, in the last week of 2023, there were 1,447 new cases of Covid-19 among people aged over 60, 314 more than a week earlier (1,133 registered cases) and a 27.7% increase from a week ago. As of 7 days ago, the increase was 27%.
This brings the cumulative incidence rate to 160.4 cases per 100,000 inhabitants on day 14, after adding 2,580 new cases among the population over 60 years old, compared with day 7, which marks the manifestation of the virus in a shorter period of time. During the semester, there were 90 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, an increase of 19.5 percentage points from a week ago.
By group, the highest seven-day incidence rate was among those aged 90 or older, with 179.7 cases per 100,000 residents, but the number of cases increased by 43.2% among those aged 80 to 89.
During the analysis period, four Covid-19 outbreaks were recorded, with 23 people infected. Three of the infections were reported in nursing homes, where 18 were infected, while the fourth corresponded to a senior center with five positive cases.
Regarding variants of interest (VOI), the BA.2.86 lineage stood out in terms of frequency, with 70.2% of variants of interest detected. Last month, nine new sublineages were identified for the first time, including two from XBB.1.5-like and five from BA.2.86.
influenza incidence
As far as influenza is concerned, the number of cases reported through the EDO surveillance system (notifiable disease system) last week was 11,324, an increase of 5,191 cases or 84.64% from the previous week.
This brings the cumulative number of cases in the 2023/2024 season to 25,849. Over the 52 weeks in 2023, 67,196 cases were recorded, more than double the 30,516 cases in the same period in 2022.
This week, the rate stood at 167.75 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, thus above the epidemic threshold of 24.95 set based on recent seasons, but with almost no cases in 2020/2021.
Health Minister Fatima Matut has recently pointed out that the incidence of Covid-19 is stable and that after the interaction of the Three Kings holiday, the peak of influenza incidence is expected next week.
Likewise, he said the flu “is not more severe or requires more hospital stay,” particularly affecting people over 80 with other medical conditions. In fact, he said hospital pressure had not increased because “there weren’t any cases.” Rather than suspending scheduled admissions for surgery or any other activity.
syncytial respiratory virus
Finally, in terms of RSV, the cumulative incidence rate per 100,000 inhabitants in primary care in the last week of the year was 427.6 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in children under 1 year old and 77.9 cases in children 1 year old, a decrease of 34.5% and 63.6% respectively compared to the previous week. .
The cumulative weekly incidence of emergency admissions for children under 1 year old was 115.1 per 100,000 cases, an increase of 10% from the previous week. Unlike the previous week, suspected cases of RSV have been detected in emergency admissions over the past year, with a cumulative incidence of 18.8.
From December 25 to 31, 2023, there were 646 cases of bronchitis/bronchiolitis in children aged 0-4 years old registered in primary medical institutions through the suspected case surveillance system, a decrease of 176 cases from the previous week. Therefore, the cumulative number of cases for the 2023/2024 season reaches 13,661.