The Flu's Impact in Spain: A Five-Year Look (2015-2020)

Influenza, also known as the flu, is a big deal in Europe. It causes about 30% of all sickness and death in the European Union. But how bad is it in each country? That's what researchers wanted to find out in Spain. They looked at data from hospitals over five seasons, from 2015 to 2020. What did they discover? Flu hits Spain hard. Every season, around 29, 000 people get so sick they need to go to the hospital. About 2, 200 of them end up in the intensive care unit (ICU), and sadly, 1, 600 people die. That's a lot of people! If you're hospitalized with the flu, there's a 7. 8% chance you'll need ICU care, and a 5. 7% chance you won't make it. These numbers can change a lot from season to season, depending on the type of flu virus going around. Older adults bear the brunt of this. More than 60% of hospitalizations are people over 65. And when it comes to deaths, about 82% are elderly. So, the flu's biggest burden is on older folks. You might think, "That's sad, but how much does it cost? " Well, each year, the flu costs Spain about €128 million. And guess what? Most of that money is spent on people over 45.