A 44-year-old patient has died in a hospital in the Valencian Community after testing positive for rabies. The man was bitten by a dog during a trip to Ethiopia in July 2024 and was not vaccinated against the disease. The bite was on his right leg, and after the wound was cleaned, he made a good recovery, so he did not consider seeking medical attention upon his return. At the end of May, a suspected case of rabies imported from Africa was reported to the Ministry of Health, but it was not until last Thursday that it became known that the man was in isolation and in serious condition in the intensive care unit (ICU). Both he and his wife, the only at-risk contact, were given the rabies vaccine and immunoglobulin, but virtually 100% of people with rabies end up dying, and finally, this Friday, health authorities confirmed that nothing could be done to save the man's life.

The evolution of the virus in Catalonia begins to show some positive notes. The main one: the incidence is decreasing in all age groups. A fortnight ago it began to reduce the one that had risen the most, the 15-29 age group, but not the one that was most worrying, the over-70s, who have the worst prognosis. However, the latest data show that it is also beginning to fall. "It is good news, we have very clear indicators that they probably are going down, more slowly than young people, but they are going down", celebrates Biocomsc researcher Enric Álvarez, who also highlights another fact: in CAPs (primary healthcare centres) there is no increase in consultations of people over 70 years old and even in those over 80 there is a decrease.

For over a year hospitals have been living a constant déjà-vu: wards are never completely emptied and each new wave of patients challenges intensive care services. It is only a few days since the fourth wave of the coronavirus broke out - or a rebound in the third wave, depending on who you ask - and intensive care units (ICUs) are already suffering. Occupancy in critical areas has soared 19% in the last ten days and has gone from 406 covid patients on March 31 to 495 that this Friday. The centres had already compromised much of their activity through covid, as since the summer Catalonia has failed to bring occupation below 300 patients, and the desire to continue to ensure care for other diseases is subjecting professionals to great stress.

The director of the Catalan Health Service (Servei Català de la Salut), Adrià Comella, warns that the pandemic in Catalonia is now at "a point of very fragile balance", because the care pressure is high after more than 700 people have been admitted to intensive care units (today there are 705). Comella denies, however, that the system is approaching its collapse and trusts that the downward trend of infections will continue in order to lighten hospitals. In an interview with Catalunya Ràdio radio station, he has warned that, in spite of this tendency to contain the contagions, there can be influences of the new variants or of the neighboring communities and has said that if there is a new increase they will have to harden the restrictions.