If in previous years it was COVID-19 or infant bronchiolitis that overwhelmed emergency rooms, this year we are back to pre-pandemic conditions. influenza Which resulting in some hospitals Activity levels ‘never seen before’ On these dates, according to Mireia Puig, president of the Catalan Society of Emergency Medicine (SoCMUE) and director of services at the São Paulo hospital.
Salut data corresponding to last week showed that the increase in respiratory infections, especially influenza, led to an increase in medical activity of 5.3% and 11.4% compared to the past 30 days, i.e. “usually” These dates for the winter virus, as the government emphasized this Wednesday.
However, in This week, Just after Christmas Eve, there was an increase in the number of visits to senior hospitals, which coincided with Celebrations This happened last weekend and continued over Christmas and St. Esteve, with health centers closed during the holidays.
Infections in children
In the absence of official data, the Catalan Association of Emergency Medicine estimates an increase in aid for hospital emergencies Between 15% and 30% Depends on the type of hospital. For example, in the services directed by Dr. Puig at the Sant Pau Hospital, the increase was 33%.
“It is a Nursing stress Much higher than other years, which is consistent with peak of popularity Influenza rates are higher than last year and higher than expected, which may be related to the large increase in infections among children,” the emergency physician explained.
children and teenagers
In fact, the data Salut refers to between December 18 and 24 already show this upward curve: respiratory infection cases rose from 67,521 in the previous week. 71,647 people infected In the days leading up to Christmas. In the pediatric population, influenza positivity accounted for 42% of tests performed. Infection rates during this period doubled in the 0- to 4-year-old range and more than doubled in the 5- to 14-year-old range.
In contrast, respiratory syncytial virus (virtual reality system) in minors is decline Since the first infant immunization campaign has achieved good results.he Coronavirus Infections and hospitalizations have also declined in Catalonia.However, the “increase exceeded expectations” pneumonia Diagnosed in primary care.
A cocktail of viruses, particularly influenza, is causing a surge in hospital emergency activity, meaning increased waiting times for non-critically ill patients.
therefore, virus mixture This resulting high volume of activity in hospital emergencies is translating into an increase in you wait of non-severe patients.According to the Catalan Association of Emergency Medicine, the average wait time has dropped from about one hour to two to two hours three in low-complexity patients.
Likewise, according to Dr. Puig, we note that “Lack of space“The pits and waiting rooms look more crowded today than usual. Nonetheless, Salut issued a message”calm”, the government assured in a statement on Wednesday that the Catalan health system “has medical equipment ready to respond to the increase in the spread of respiratory viruses. ”
Yet, as Jordi Mestres, a member of the Catalan Association of Family and Community Medicine (CAMFiC), recalls, winter after winter “ saturation The occurrence of an emergency and the reinforcement of labor force do not mean template Complete” because there are employees on vacation and there are employees on sick leave.
Infections are expected to continue to rise in the coming days due to falling temperatures and interactions over the remainder of Christmas.
health centre
in this case health centre, Healthcare pressures increased by 5% between 18 and 24 years. There was a “massive influx” on Wednesday, just days after Christmas celebrations were shut down, as usually happens after every long weekend. But it is expected to “go further” in the coming days. As temperatures drop and interactions increase over the remainder of Christmas.
In this case, it is difficult to predict when the flu will break out will hit the ceiling It is not yet certain why there is a large number of cases. Dr Puig said that was one reason “but certainly not the only factor”. vaccine coverage Influenza incidence is lower than last year.
Among people over 80 years old, Vaccinated 65% – and a lot of it is late – compared to 75% coverage this time last year. And, as a novelty, the campaign calls for children aged 6 to 59 months to be vaccinated, but only 2 in 10 children have visited vaccination centres.
Rest of Spain
Emergency influx has increased across Spain. According to data from Galicia’s Spanish emergency association SEMES, attendance has increased by an average of 20-25% compared to the rest of the year. At Valdesilla Hospital in Santander, Records of 596 patients The previous highest number of patients in the emergency room was 425 patients.
this data from system to national level, The report released on Thursday confirmed an increase in respiratory infections detected by health centres. The rate of acute respiratory illness in primary care increased by 100 percentage points, from 806 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the week of December 11 to 17, to 908 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the seven days before Christmas Eve.
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By age group, the largest increase was in less than one year old, followed by the 1 to 4 year old group.Most infections are caused by influenza (from 20.6% to 24.8% in one week), covid (from 12.6% to 13.6%) and VRS (from 14.2% to 15.1%).and 98.5% of influenza viruses They are type A.
In hospitals, the respiratory infection rate also increased, from 18.5 to 21 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.Most infections are found in children under 1 year old, but there is also a rebound in hospital centers Adults over 80 years old There are many more years to come. The positive rate for influenza in the hospital was 26.8%, the positive rate for COVID-19 was 10.5%, and the positive rate for respiratory syncytial virus was 20.1%. The influenza hospitalization rate increased to 5.6 cases per 100,000 residents. The proportion of hospital admissions due to COVID-19 has also increased, reaching 2.3.