Majorcan hospitals start to fill up with flu cases

THE health centres and hospitals in Majorca are beginning to fill up as the number of cases of flu increases. However, the good news is that the epidemic is not as bad as in other parts of Spain and is certainly not as virulent as the epidemic in the United Kingdom. Francisco Cárceles, the medical director of Son Dureta national health hospital, said that it was a virus with gastro-intestinal problems, rather than the flu proper. He added that few cases were being registered at the moment. Yesterday, there were 46 patients waiting for a bed, 16 of them after suffering a relapse. He added that most of the cases were elderly people with cardio-respiratory problems brought about by the sudden changes in temperature. Cárceles said that the situation could be described as “normal“ bearing in mind the number of people waiting for a bed, but he added that it was also true that the situation could change at any moment. He also said that most of the cases were being treated at the National Health centres, and the only cases referred to the hospital were “elderly people with cardio-respiratory problems.”