The Netherlands is struggling with a mild flu epidemic. According to figures from the Nivel, there are now seventy per hundred thousand Dutch people with flu-like complaints.
Last week, this was 86 people out of every 100,000 inhabitants. When longer than fourteen days more than 51 cases of flu per hundred thousand inhabitants, there is talk of a flu epidemic † The Nivel currently speaks of a mild epidemic †
Read more about the flu season here>
The flu is common in all regions of the country. The GPs see mainly young children between 0 and 4 years with flu-like symptoms. The flu can be recognized by rapidly rising fever, headache, severe sore throat, cough, muscle pain , and sometimes nausea and diarrhea.
Swine flu?
In 58 percent of the nose and throat samples submitted and examined by the GPs flu virus was found. Of these flu patients, 59 percent had Swine flu and 41 percent the normal seasonal flu.
All about the flu and the swine flu>
There are currently no indications that either flu virus is becoming more aggressive and the number of serious cases is no greater than other winters with a flu epidemic †
