1. Should we be concerned?
In 2018 there was a very severe flu epidemic that caused hospitals to fill up with patients. After the corona pandemic, we quickly wonder if this can happen again. After all, that was often the reason we went into lockdown.
But is it possible that there will now be a shortage of beds again? That fear is not there at the moment. Many people are sick and there is an increase in hospitals. “But not so much that there would be no more beds available,” says virologist Adam Meijer of the RIVM.
There are no precise figures for the number of flu patients in hospital, but a spokesperson for the Dutch Association of Hospitals does report that ‘it still seems to be not that bad’.
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2. How long will it take?
It is difficult to predict how long the current flu wave in the Netherlands will last and how high the peak in the number of infections will be. “We don’t actually know what will happen with the flu, now that the corona pandemic is hopefully coming to an end,” says researcher Meijer.
“It may continue for weeks, but it may also subside and we will no longer have a flu wave before the summer. We will see.”
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3. Why do you still get the flu after having a shot?
An epidemic, in other words, while relatively many people have been vaccinated against the flu. Corona not only gave a boost to corona vaccinations, the flu shot also benefited.
But the flu shot does not always work optimally. This year you have about 30 percent less chance of getting the flu if you get a shot, you are 40 percent protected against hospitalization.
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Why is the flu shot not always effective?
The protection of the flu shot varies from season to season. That’s because flu viruses are constantly changing.
The prediction of the spring, about which types of flu will prevail in the autumn, are not always correct. As a result, the flu shot works better one year than the next.
People with a low resistance make fewer antibodies after getting the flu shot. That is why they still have a chance of getting the flu.
Source: Medicines Evaluation Board
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4. Why isn’t everyone getting the flu shot?
The flu shot is offered free of charge to children and adults who are at extra risk of becoming seriously ill from the flu. But not to everyone. Why is that?
The knowledge center Nivel writes on the site: “The flu poses less of a threat to young, healthy adults. Not only do they run a lower risk of getting the flu, but the flu, if it does occur, will also be less severe. That is why this group does not have to not to be vaccinated.”
At-risk groups were also more at risk than others with corona, but everyone was offered a vaccination with that disease. The RIVM states that we offer everyone a vaccination in the event of corona to increase the total resilience of the Dutch population against the disease. We don’t choose to do that with the flu.
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5. How often in your life have you had the flu?
You may now often hear around you: ‘I am sick, probably the flu’. However, in some cases – even if there is an epidemic – it will be a cold. Epidemiologist Rianne van Gageldonk of the RIVM says that people have the flu ‘about once every ten years’. And then you really feel that it is not a cold.
A well-known phenomenon in popular speech is also the ‘men’s flu’. But does it really exist? You can see that in the video below.
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6. Is there more flu than corona now?
There is an epidemic, but it is impossible to say exactly how many people have the flu, says virologist Adam Meijer of the RIVM. “That’s because we don’t test everyone like we do with corona. It’s about random samples.”
So where with corona we were used to hearing how many people were infected every day, that is not the case with the flu. Epidemiologist Van Gageldonk: “But if you now have serious complaints and your self-test is negative, you are more likely to have the flu than corona.”
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