After several weeks of rise that have had a notable impact on the capacity of the health system, the flu wave in Catalonia “seems to have surpassed the epidemic peak,” concludes the Information System for Infection Surveillance (Sivic) in view of the data. from last week.
Health authorities are awaiting the evolution of the epidemiological curve of respiratory infections to confirm that the worst of the season has already passed. “The most normal thing is that the curve continues to decline and what happens this week is very relevant to see if this decline is consolidated,” explains Carmen Cabezas, Secretary of Public Health, to La Vanguardia.
Although the incidence rate of influenza remains high, specialists consider that the general decrease in numerous indicators of different infections will have an impact on an imminent and sustained decrease in pressure on primary care and emergency services. A significant decrease in the number of sick leave issued in the last week supports these calculations.
The number of people admitted with Covid-17 has also clearly decreased, with 625 patients in conventional beds (169 less than the previous week) and 26 in the ICU (4 less). “There is also a decrease in hospital emergency consultations and the proportion of admissions, within what was expected at this time,” indicates the Sivic report.
In the second week of the year (January 8 to 14), the incidence of acute respiratory infections as a whole decreased to a rate of 874 affected per 100,000 inhabitants, with 68,868 registered cases.
Influenza continues to be the most common infection (39.9% of samples), the only one that is at a high epidemic level, ahead of rhinovirus (11.9%), which causes the common cold, SARS-CoV- 2 (9.2%) and respiratory syncytial virus (5.9%). In the pediatric population, the flu virus is also the most circulating (47.9%) and decreases compared to the previous week.
Last week, 14,647 cases of covid were diagnosed in Catalonia, compared to 15,256 the previous week, which implies a decrease in the rate from 194 to 186 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, the first decrease in 11 weeks.
Last year, at this point, the incidence was much lower, on the verge of hitting rock bottom before beginning a four-week rise to mark a second epidemic peak at the end of February. Experts are waiting for the possibility that a second wave will occur again this season, a rare circumstance.
Despite the improvement in indicators, Carme Cabezas recalls that there is still a strong circulation of the virus and “we must continue applying all the measures that we are remembering”: use of a mask in health centers and if you have symptoms, hand hygiene , ventilation of spaces, single-use tissues, staying home if you have symptoms and… vaccination.
In Catalonia, the vaccination coverage of people vulnerable to covid is 60% in those over 80 years of age and 46% in people between 70 and 79 years of age. Against the flu there is a higher rate, 67% and 54%, respectively. In any case, levels lower than those expected by health authorities.
Since the campaign began on September 26, more than 2.3 million vaccines have been administered in nursing homes. Salut determined that the vaccination points would be primary care centers, although it recommended that each health region enable a population vaccination point that would operate on weekends.
As the pace of requests slowed down, they closed all the population vaccination points except one in Lleida, the only one in operation when, on January 10, the Department of Health decided to extend the possibility to the entire population – not just the vulnerable – to get vaccinated.
This week the Metropolitan North health region has decided to reactivate the population vaccination points that it opened in October in Sabadell, Badalona and Les Franqueses and enable one in Mataró. “Anyone can make an appointment electronically through La Meva Salut or the citasalut.cat website to get vaccinated at the CAP or at a vaccination point,” they point out. You can also make an appointment directly at the CAPs or take advantage of a scheduled visit to request the vaccines.
