Anyone who is tested for the coronavirus in a test street will also be tested for the flu virus “in the very short term”. have that the GGD and the Amsterdam UMC decided. There is a fear of a severe flu wave and the tests can provide insight into the number of infections.
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That reports One today. “People with flu or cold complaints already go to the test street,” Menno de Jong, virologist at Amsterdam UMC, told the television program. “This gives us a better idea of when the flu virus will start circulating and to what extent.”
Testing for the flu virus must be done “in the very short term”. The same sample is then used for the test that is taken for the corona test. An extra cotton swab is therefore not necessary. De Jong says that in addition to the flu, other respiratory viruses are also being looked at.
According to the virologist, it is important to monitor the number of infections, because it predicts what can happen in hospitals. Vulnerable groups can end up in hospital because of the flu. Measures could then prevent that.
De Jong said in the summer in a conversation with AT5 already that measures may have to be taken in the autumn because of the flu.
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