Dutch flu nearing epidemic levels

the Netherlands is on the brink of a flu epidemic, with the number of Dutch, home sick with the flu, doubled in one week's time.

We speak of a flu epidemic when the number of flu occurrences is much higher in a certain area in a certain period.

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The flu is a seasonal infectious disease and is more common during the winter.

There are always people with the flu. In recent years that number has been estimated around 30 per 100,000. Currently, however, that number is 50 per 100,000. If it reaches 51 per 100,000, we will officially have a flu epidemic on our hands, according to Netherlands Institute for health services research (Nivel).

For now, most flu victims are children up to 4 years and elderly over 65.