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Alicante now has the worst flu infection numbers in Spain
Medical experts warn worst may be ahead as cases soar across Alicante province
The 2025 flu epidemic is rapidly escalating throughout Spain and nowhere is this more evident than in Alicante, where the rate of infection has shot past the national average to give the province the highest infection rate in the country.
Flu infections in the city have soared to more than 1,600 per 100,000 people, which is almost triple Spain’s national average of 643 and well above the levels seen at this point last winter.
The latest bulletin from the Valencian Community’s acute respiratory infection surveillance system (Sivira) confirms what doctors across the province have been seeing for weeks. The 2025 flu season has arrived early and with unusual force, especially in Primary Care, where the surge in patients is already placing heavy pressure on clinics.
Last year’s flu peak didn’t arrive until late January, when Alicante province hit 1,184 cases per 100,000 inhabitants and pushed emergency departments to the limit. This year, that figure has already been exceeded almost two months earlier, with the province reaching 1,192 cases in the first week of December.
Hospitals are not yet overwhelmed, but specialists warn that the growing number of positive flu tests in health centres, now at 20%, will inevitably shift the burden to emergency departments in the coming weeks.
The rapid spread has turned much of the Valencian Community’s health map dark orange, indicating high incidence levels. The situation is particularly intense in the departments covering Alicante city, followed closely by Dénia, Marina Baixa, Elche General and Torrevieja, where rates reach up to 1,400 cases per 100,000.
In Elda, Elche-Crevillent and Orihuela, incidence is slightly lower at around 1,200, while Alcoy remains the least affected, although that is expected to change soon given its proximity to Xàtiva-Ontinyent, the municipality currently experiencing the most flu in the entire Community.
The highest infection rates are among children under 14, particularly those under 4, who have reached an extremely high 4,031 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. Last week, that figure was already alarming at 3,662.
However, older adults remain the most vulnerable group. Among patients hospitalised for acute respiratory infections, 31.8% have the flu, meaning one in three severe cases is now flu-related.
The rate of severe flu has reached 5.9 cases per 100,000, the same level recorded at the height of last winter’s wave.
According to medical experts, the province is now in a fully epidemic phase and with Christmas gatherings just days away, “the worst may be yet to come.”
Image: Archive
staff.inc.ali
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