Balearics has lowest flu rate in Spain on eve of mass vaccination

THE latest common and swine flu statistics showed yesterday that the Balearics, with 133 cases per 100'000 inhabitants, currently has the lowest flu rate in Spain.

The report was published on the eve of the swine flu vaccination campaign which gets underway here on Monday with 190'000 “high risk” people destined to be vaccinated against the A/H1N1 virus.

But, while the Balearics is relatively flu-free, many regions of Spain are in the grips of epidemics. In Madrid, for example, the flu rate is double the Balearics' at 300 per 100'000 inhabitants.

But in La Rioja and the Basque Country, the rates are as high as 544 and 516 cases of both common and swine per 100'00 inhabitants respectively. In total, epidemics have been declared in 14 regions.

Nationwide, 146'539 people are suffering from flu and according to the government, nearly all of the patients have tested positive for the A/H1N1 strain.