Alert in Catalonia due to the increase in respiratory infections in the last week

The incidence of acute respiratory infections (ARI) in Catalonia has increased by 7.5% compared to the previous weekdespite the fact that it is still at low epidemic levels, according to the latest update this Tuesday of the Information System for the Surveillance of Infections in Catalonia (Sivic).

In the week of November 20 to 27, the incidence rate is 845 affected per 100,000 inhabitants compared to 785 the previous week, and 64,703 cases of ARI have been registered compared to 60,093 the previous week.

Between thehe most frequent circulating respiratory virus continues to be rhinovirus (21.9% of the samples), followed by influenza (16.6%), Sars-CoV-2 (15.7%) and respiratory syncytial virus ( 14.8%): the incidence of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and influenza continue to rise and that of rhinovirus and covid are currently stable.

The estimate of the global weekly rate of Covid-19 is 132 compared to 148 weekly, and the omicron variant represents almost 100% of the sequenced samples.

The estimated incidence of influenza continues to increase from 115 cases per 100,000 inhabitants to 140, still maintaining a low level of transmission: the increase is registered in all ages under 60 and suggests the start of an early epidemic peak, three or four weeks, relative to other seasons.

The calculated rate of bronchiolitis, RSV syndromic data continues to be high and rising, although less markedly, from 20 to 23 affected per 100,000 inhabitants, exceeding the very high epidemic threshold for the second week.

The greatest increase continues to be observed in children under one year of age where the incidence continues to rise and is very high, 2,230 per 100,000 inhabitants compared to 1,931 the previous week, and in children under 4 years of age it is also very high, going from 479 to 561 affected per 100,000 inhabitants, and the care impact is "presumably important" in pediatrics.