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Last year she stayed away, but now the flu is back in the country. “We may see both an omikron wave and a flu outbreak in January,” says virologist Steven Van Gucht of Sciensano. It’s not too late to get a flu vaccine, he says. “You can even combine it with the booster shot.”
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Kim Clemens
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It started with a few cases here and there, but meanwhile the flu is slowly circulating. “At a low level. It is still too early to speak of a wave. We usually don’t see the flu curve emerging until January,” says Steven Van Gucht. What is remarkable, however, is that this curve was not there last year. Not even a moment of low circulation like now. That is not very strange. “Because last year there were even stricter measures than now. The hairdressers were closed, the catering industry was closed. Now it’s something else.”
“Most ambitious”
The flu that is mainly doing the rounds is of the H3N2 type. “That in itself is nothing special, we still see them popping up every now and then. But of the four types, it is the most obsessive, to which older people are most sensitive. Does that mean we should be concerned? I do not think so. The corona measures, the mouth masks, they will have an effect and ensure that the flu will have quite a hard time breaking through. Although people’s immunity against the flu may be a bit weaker this year because there was none last year.”
He recommends people in high-risk groups – pregnant women, people over 65, people with underlying conditions or obesity – to get vaccinated, if they have not already done so. It is also recommended for healthcare workers. “It’s not too late, there are still vaccines in stock. You can also combine it with the booster shot: before, after, or together, it doesn’t matter. The vaccine, like the one against corona, does not stop every infection. But they are all things that help.”
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