The view of health experts is that the population's immune system has become accustomed to the circulation of SARS-CoV-2, which is responsible for Covid, but that other respiratory viruses are now making a comeback.
Top of the list is RSV, Respiratory Syncytial Virus. The head of virology at Son Espases Hospital, Jordi Reina, says that around 60% of samples taken at Son Espases for the presence of respiratory virus are positive and that of these, "half are for RSV". He adds that the disease causes bronchiolitis, especially in children under the age of one, and is affecting babies more severely. "This is a season with more paediatric admissions to intensive care than to the ward."
This virus usually spreads in November, some weeks before the usual arrival of the flu, but its incidence is already ascending. RSV is therefore ahead of the normal epidemiological schedule and it is not the only one. The president of the Association of Primary Care Paediatricians, Marianna Mambié, says that health centres are dealing with cases that normally appear at the end of December and with another virus: "We already have children with Influenza A." She adds that this situation "is very rare" and that "it probably tells us about the season we are going to have".
During 2022, the flu has behaved irregularly. Although it practically disappeared during the pandemic, it reappeared with greater force at the end of last winter. Over the summer, there were ten to twenty cases, when there are usually none. Mambié also points to the adenovirus, "which is probably behind gastroenteritis", and has occurred out of season and with more intense and longer symptoms. Dr. Reina at Son Espases confirms this, saying that there has been an out-of-season outbreak.