Spanish flu epidemic increases in intensity

The data comes from a report covering the incidence of acute respiratory infections (ARIs) during the week of October 16-22.

The Carlos III Health Institute (ISCIII) reports an increase in the intensity of influenza transmission in primary care areas and hospitals in Spain. However, it has been observed that the circulation of Covid-19 and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) remains stable.

In particular, the positivity rates for ARI cases selected for surveillance of respiratory viruses were: 2.1% for influenza (1.7% the previous week), 11.7% for SARS-CoV-2 (the same as the previous week), and 0.4% for influenza. RSV (0.6% compared to the previous week).

As of that day, the global number of acute respiratory infection cases was 481.5 per 100,000 inhabitants (last week: 420.7 per 100,000 inhabitants). By age group, the highest incidence of acute respiratory infections in primary care is among children under one year old (3,253.9 cases per 100,000 inhabitants), followed by children aged 1-4 years (2,101.6 cases per 100,000 inhabitants). In terms of gender, the incidence rate is higher in women than in men (535.6 and 425.7 cases per 100,000 inhabitants respectively).

Current data compared to last week

This week, the global incidence of severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) was 8.8 cases per 100,000 inhabitants (versus 9.7 cases per 100,000 inhabitants the previous week). By age group, the highest incidence rates this week were among people over 79 years old (61.3 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, compared with 69.8 cases per 100,000 inhabitants the previous week), followed by the group of children under one year old (51.3 cases per 100,000 inhabitants )resident). In terms of gender, the incidence rate is 10.3 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in males and 7.5 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in females.

Since the start of the season, 1,491 IRA samples have been analyzed for influenza diagnostics, 1,501 samples have been analyzed for SARS-CoV-2, and 1,470 samples have been analyzed for RSV diagnostics. Of these samples, 30 (2%) were positive for influenza, 193 (12.9%) were positive for SARS-CoV-2, and 7 (0.5%) were positive for RSV.

As for hospitals, since the start of the season, 511 SARI samples have been analyzed for influenza diagnostics, 557 for SARS-CoV-2 and 483 for RSV. Of these, 9 (1.8%) tested positive for influenza, 138 (24.8%) tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, and 8 (1.7%) tested positive for RSV.