,,I’ve never had the flu in all my life, so why should I still get it now?’, the gentleman says to me, when I ask if he will come by next week for the flu shot. With his seventy years and a heart attack in the past, he runs an extra risk of unpleasant consequences of the flu, such as pneumonia and hospitalization for this.
During a normal winter, about one in ten people will get the flu. For many a nasty cold, but for some a really bad flu: shivering in bed from the high fever, muscle pain everywhere, headache, cough and sore throat. And that for two to five days. Afterwards you have the feeling that a train has run over you. And not infrequently, weeks of recovery follow to build up a bit of condition again.
I am reminded of the forty-year-old man who, at the insistence of family, made a home visit a few years ago. Sweating in bed from the fever, he felt deadly ill. And he was not used to this at all. He had all the characteristics of the influenza flu and I explained that this time he did not have the male flu, but now the real flu. Only his wife could laugh because of that, he himself felt too bad for a joke and hid again deep under the covers.
There was hardly any flu last winter. Due to the one and a half meter rule due to corona, viruses barely got a grip on people. Together with my colleagues, I was surprised that we hardly saw any sick children at the office hours. Childcare and schools were closed and many people were working from home. Every winter I urgently refer a number of patients with COPD or asthma to the hospital because of severe shortness of breath. But none last winter. For fear of corona, they stayed at home a lot and far away from others. The result was far fewer sick people. And yet the ICs were overcrowded, because of the even more contagious coronavirus.
How will it be this winter? Are the viruses now eager to spread? It is expected that the flu virus will circulate considerably this winter with the release of the one and a half meter measure. Not a big deal if you’re fit and healthy. And if you have a fragile health or are older than sixty, there is the possibility to get a flu shot through your GP. I say go for it! To protect yourself and others. And it may also help the squeaky and creaky care in hospital or elsewhere to stay afloat.
Anne Marie Visser
–
