The Catalan outpatient clinics get back to work this Thursday after the January 1 holiday with an eye toward the expected resurgence of the flu. , the Department of Health expects the incidence to grow in “the coming weeks.” The level of flu transmission remains “markedly rising,” according to the ministry, and those over 60 account for the majority of hospitalizations due to this virus. For weeks now, Health has insisted on the importance of getting vaccinated to avoid complications, especially among the most vulnerable groups.
In the last week of December, the incidence of flu reached 92.8 flu diagnoses per 100,000 inhabitants and is approaching the moderate transmission threshold (93.1), which Health assumes will be exceeded this week.
Compared to other seasons,. At this point, the previous school year was already close to the high level of transmission (more than 168 flu diagnoses in Primary School); and two years ago the moderate transmission threshold had also been exceeded. The department considers that there is currently an underdiagnosis derived from the holidays during the Christmas period. Once normality returns, especially with the return of school activities, health officials will obtain a real photograph of the impact of respiratory viruses in Catalonia.
The fear of a severe rebound is explained by the low vaccination against covid, the lowest since the pandemic; especially in people precisely over 60 years old. According to data from the Information System for the Surveillance of Infections in Catalonia (Sivic), flu vaccination among patients of this age is 44.75%; a figure lower than in 2023 (46.28%), 2022 (52.2%) and 2021 (56.2%).
The data, which is updated weekly and is public, also shows how coverage in this age group has stagnated in recent weeks. For this reason, the Department notified the Primary Care Centers that they should facilitate accessibility to the vaccine as much as possible, so vaccination without an appointment was expanded throughout the territory. At the hospital level, 73% of patients hospitalized for flu are over 60 years of age.
The good news is that the level of RSV transmission registers a slight increase with 110 (67-153) cases per 100,000 inhabitants, indicating the end of the ascending phase of this season’s epidemic peak. Currently, the distribution of viruses shows rhinovirus as the most predominant (33.3% of samples), followed by influenza (31.7%) and RSV (17%).
First Catalan of 2025
The first Catalan of 2025 is Nayeli, born at the Parc Taulí Hospital in Sabadell (Barcelona) at midnight, seconds after the New Year bells. The baby’s mother, Juana, is a resident of that city, as reported by the Department of Health of the Generalitat in a message on the social network X. The girl weighed 2,190 kilos and is feeling well. Minutes later, at 00:45 a.m., the second baby of 2025 was born at the Sant Joan de Déu hospital in Barcelona, also a girl named Siena, who weighed 3,070 kilos.
