THE HAGUE – In 2021, 30 percent of Dutch people indicated that they had had a cold, strep throat, flu or sinus infection in the past two months. That is less than in the previous measurement in 2018, when 41 percent indicated this. There was a decrease in almost all age groups. These complaints occurred equally often in children up to 4 years of age and in parents of children up to 12 years of age. Fewer other acute complaints were reported in 2021, such as acute bronchitis or pneumonia, ear infections, diarrhea and vomiting. Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reports this on the basis of the 2021 Health Survey.
In 2021, fewer people reported having had acute bronchitis or pneumonia during the past two months: 1 percent, compared to 2 percent in 2018. Also, fewer people said they had had an ear infection, or had vomiting or diarrhea.
The Netherlands was still affected by the corona pandemic in 2021. The decrease in the share of people with colds, flu, acute bronchitis or pneumonia, ear infections, vomiting and diarrhea is probably related to the measures taken against the spread of the coronavirus [1]† The health survey did not ask whether people had had corona in the past two months, only whether they had ever had corona.
No fewer young children with flu and cold complaints
Colds and flu were most common in children up to the age of 4 in 2021: 66 percent of them suffered from such complaints during the previous two months, according to their parent or caregiver. This is the only age group where the percentage with these complaints is the same as in 2018, it was lower in all other age groups. Among the over-65s, this halved, from 28 percent in 2018 to 14 percent in 2021.
Half of the parents of young children had a cold or flu
In 2021, 49 percent of parents with children under the age of 4 reported having had a cold, strep throat, flu or sinus infection in the past two months. This was about the same in 2018. Parents with children between 4 and 12 years old living at home also reported flu and cold complaints relatively often (38 percent), also about as often as three years earlier.
Among parents with children aged 12 to 18 and children aged 18 or older, and among those without children living at home, these complaints were less common than in 2018
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