Number of flu cases in the Netherlands increases again; now an official epidemic

The number of flu cases has risen quickly in the Netherlands in the last week. Numbers provided by general practitioners confirm that the Netherlands currently has an official flu epidemic. This was the second week in a row that the number of registered flu cases was above the determined limit.

The health institution Nivel reported last week that 76 people per 100,000 residents went to the general practitioner with flu-like symptoms. This is a significant increase compared to the previous week when 58 in 100,000 had these symptoms. The limit of an epidemic when it comes to the flu is 53.

Most people who have the flu do not go to the general practitioner, but there is still a minority of vulnerable people who do. Therefore, these numbers are a good indicator of the spread of the flu virus.

Samples from patients are also being examined at random. Last week, they actually contained a flu virus. The RS virus also appeared regularly, in just under one in five examined samples. Rhinoviruses and coronaviruses are also found to a lesser extent.

General practitioners do not see the flu epidemic as anything especially noteworthy. “They are used to it, it is a part of it,” said a spokesperson for the Landelijke Huisartsenvereniging (LHV), which is the national association for general practitioners. Issues could arise if doctors were to become ill from the virus. “There are already staff shortages, so this would become noticeable very quickly.”

There are also hardly any staff to replace sick teachers in the education sector. This has been an issue in the larger cities, where teacher shortages are a prevalent issue. The flu wave has come during the exam period.

For example, children in group 8 will have to take a progression test soon. The paper versions of these tests are scheduled for next week, Tuesday and Wednesday. Anybody missing these can take the digital variant, exam providers Cito and Bureau ICE have said. All group eight students have to have taken the test by March 7.

Various hospitals have already taken measures, such as setting up flu wards. The HagaZiekenhuis in The Hague and the OLVG in Amsterdam have already reported many people with the flu in their hospitals.

Nivel considers the numbers an epidemic with a low intensity. If the number of infections rises a little further, it will be a level higher, and it will be a moderate intensity.