State Minister of Health, manil balsellsIn Catalonia, 83.4% of children under six months have been vaccinated against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) – the cause of most cases of bronchiolitis – since October 2, when the campaign began, it announced on Saturday. In this way, the administration has achieved a significant reduction in cases of bronchiolitis, emergency room visits and hospitalizations due to respiratory syncytial virus and other causes in this age group, compared to the rest of the pediatric-age population and in previous years similarly, hospital admissions decreased by one Respect 84.5% The previous year: they have 78 children were admitted to hospital424 fewer than the previous season when there were 502.
The total budget of the campaign amounts to 14.1 million euros, a necessary increase to meet new immunization within the health system. It is performed in primary care centres Babies born between April and September For the year 2023 and in the hospital centers in which they were born between October 2023 and March 2024. This is what the Minister explained, accompanied by the Minister of Public Health, Carmen Cabezas; Pediatrician at the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Unit at Val d’Hebron Hospital and member of the Catalan Pediatric Society, Antoni Soriano, and pediatric care nurse at the Catalan Institute of Health (ICS) in Granollers (Barcelona), Marta Casquet Pérez.
As the Ministry of Health stated in a press release, in the period between October and the second week of December – the first ten weeks of the epidemic season – ICS hospitals worked in emergency situations. 258 cases of bronchiolitis In children under six months, compared to 1,118 the previous year and in the same weeks: these numbers mean 860 fewer childrenWhich means a 77% decrease. These data show that with vaccines, children are better protected.
65 thousand doses to cover the demand
The Ministry of Health has distributed 65,000 doses in pediatric primary care centers and hospitals in Catalonia to deal with the respiratory syncytial virus, which will cover “all existing demand” in children under six months and those born until March 2024. According to the ministry, it is estimated that in 2022 In Catalonia, respiratory syncytial virus caused 7,523 cases of bronchiolitis in children under one year of age, with 1,058 hospitalizations -662 in conventional beds and 396 in the intensive care unit-, at an estimated cost of more than €18 million.
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