Spain: Catalan flu nearing base levels after ‘passing epidemic peak’

Covid-19 admissions continue to fall, with 90 fewer people on wards and 7 fewer in ICU

According to the latest update from the Catalan Infection Surveillance Information System (Sivic) on Tuesday, the influenza epidemic in Catalonia is close to basic levels after “exceeding the peak of the epidemic” and the level of transmission remains moderate.

The influenza epidemic wave had an incidence rate of 146 cases per 100,000 inhabitants between January 29 and February 4, “following a peak in detections last week,” with a decrease in the pediatric population and a No increase. Influenza B detected.

Acute respiratory infections (ARI) continue to decrease compared to the previous week, with 570 people affected per 100,000 inhabitants and 44,916 ARI cases registered.

In terms of distribution, influenza is the most common virus (25.7%), followed by rhinovirus (19.7%), human coronavirus (13%), RSV (5.3%), metapneumovirus (3.9%) and SARS-CoV -2 (3.5%).

In the pediatric population, positive results from multiple tests also showed that influenza A was the most circulating virus (27.6%), followed by RSV (4.2%), “both of which were down compared to the previous week.”

Once the wave of the epidemic is over and there is a “slight decrease” in RSV, with an estimated trend of 30 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, cases of pneumonia diagnosed in primary care fall within the currently expected range.

On the other hand, 3,544 cases of strep pharyngitis (36.2% of the total number of pharyngitis) and 351 cases of scarlet fever have been recorded, and the number of cases of strep throat (45 cases per 100,000 inhabitants) and scarlet fever (4 cases per 100,000 inhabitants) The incidence rate has increased among residents), and the “second wave of epidemics caused by Streptococcus pyogenes” continues.

Coronavirus disease

The estimated incidence of Covid-19 continues to fall, to 20 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, and associated hospital admissions have also fallen.

Specifically, there were 295 Covid-19 patients admitted to traditional hospital beds, 90 fewer than the previous week, and 8 people admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU), 7 fewer than the previous week, also remaining within the expected range for emergency visits and Admission rate.

In week 3, the Covid-19 JN.1 variant “remains clearly dominant” (90% of samples).

Vaccination

Covid-19 vaccination coverage is 61% for vulnerable people over the age of 80 and 48% for those aged 70 to 79.

Influenza coverage is higher in these age groups than Covid-19, at 68% and 55% respectively.