It is confirmed that the peak incidence of respiratory viruses was reached in the last week of 2023 and that the plateau on which flu activity is located in Spain is consolidated, according to data published yesterday from sentinel surveillance of acute respiratory infection in primary care. and in hospitals (flu, covid and RSV), of the Carlos III Health Institute.
With these data, the Government Council of Castilla y León (1,093.9 cases per 100,000 inhabitants) has agreed to eliminate the obligation to wear a mask in health centers considering that the requirements of the Ministry of Health that the incidence of the respiratory infections add two weeks to the decline. However, the data provided by Carlos III denies this: they fell in the second week of January, but in the first week of the year they rose compared to December.
It is not the only community that would meet these requirements, since there are many regions that have confirmed the reduction in the incidence of these viruses, as is the case of Castilla-La Mancha, Asturias, Cantabria, Valencia, Galicia and Madrid, which have two weeks of decline, but this last community understands that the two-week criterion began last week so it will not make the decision until next week. The rest of the autonomies that could do so are discreetly waiting for these reductions to be confirmed.
In Catalonia, it is finally falling, after weeks of rise, but there would still be one more week of decline before making the decision to remove the obligation to use masks in health centers.
The same does not happen in other communities, such as Andalusia, Aragon, the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, Murcia, Extremadura, Ceuta, Navarra and the Basque Country, where flu and viruses are rising again with some force after registering a drop the previous week, according to the cited report.
In the week of January 8 to 14, the global rate stands at 926.6 cases per 100,000 inhabitants (923.5 cases in the previous week). By age groups, the highest rates of respiratory infections in primary care occur in the group of children under 1 year of age (3,951.8 cases per 100,000 inhabitants), followed by the group of 1-4 years of age (1,819.5 cases. For sex, the incidence rates are higher in women than in men (1,050.9 and 797.1 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, respectively).
According to this report, the simultaneous circulation of influenza, SARS-CoV-2 and RSV continues simultaneously, with greater intensity for influenza, but with a decreasing positivity that is associated with a decrease in influenza rates in all areas of the community. healthcare.
In the second week of the year, the decline in flu activity in Spain is consolidated, with a peak of incidence in primary care in the last week of 2023 and a peak of hospitalization due to flu in the first week of 2024.
Hospitalization due to covid decreases, especially in patients aged 80 or older, while that of RSV infection decreases in children under 1 year of age and maintains its rise in patients aged 80 or older.
In Andalusia, the second community with the lowest incidence in all of Spain (626 cases per 100,000 inhabitants), after the Balearic Islands, the Minister of Health and Consumer Affairs, Catalina García, has asked the population to "not trust" despite the fact that the rate The incidence of flu and covid in Andalusia has decreased in recent weeks, because the respiratory viruses "are not going to go away until the month of March, when they will begin to decrease", so "the most important thing is that Andalusians get vaccinated ”.
García recalled that last year, in mid-February, “we had a high peak that made us all put on alert again,” so here “the most important thing is that Andalusians get vaccinated.”
The prudence of the communities that meet the requirements to eliminate the obligation to wear masks in health centers and hospitals contrasts with the actions of Castilla y León, which despite being one of the first to decree their use is now the first to replace the obligation by recommendation and this community is one of the oldest in Spain. The Ministry of Health "accepts the decision made by the ministry as good", although caution is requested.
