2024-02-03 08:01:34
UTRECHT (ANP) – The flu epidemic in the Netherlands appears to be subsiding a week after it was declared. GPs have seen significantly fewer patients with flu symptoms in the past week than a week earlier. However, a flu virus is relatively often found in collected samples. That is why experts from health institute Nivel, among others, speak out still a flu epidemic.
The flu wave has been mild so far this year. In the fourth week of the year, which is the subject of the new figures, only 51 people per 100,000 inhabitants went to the doctor with flu-like complaints. A week earlier, 70 out of every 100,000 inhabitants did so.
The established ‘limit value’ to call it a flu epidemic is 56 GP visits per 100,000 inhabitants. But there are also other criteria, such as the number of samples from patients in which a flu virus is detected in the laboratory.
The Netherlands has not had a serious flu epidemic since 2018. Last winter there was a fairly average flu epidemic, which lasted for fourteen weeks and was labeled ‘moderately intense’ for part of that time. The previous two winters, the Netherlands was suffering from the corona pandemic, but flu viruses had little chance due to all the precautions.
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