“Stay home if you are sick”

The flu epidemic in the Netherlands continues. According to the latest data from the RIVM, 66 out of 100,000 people with flu-like symptoms see their primary care physician and this number is slowly increasing. There is a flu epidemic when 58 out of 100,000 people with flu symptoms go to the doctor for at least two weeks, and at least 10% of these people have the flu virus.

Healthcare professionals are seeing increasing pressure on healthcare. “We’re looking for beds to hospitalize people,” says Chantal Rovers, professor of infectious disease outbreaks and internist-infection specialist at Radboud University Medical Centre.

If the number of patients increases further, scaling back of other treatments should be considered. “Then these are treatments that can be scaled back, such as the postponement of certain operations. Even if these are operations that can be postponed for several weeks, we really don’t want that,” Rovers points out.

The physician does not find the data on the influence of the RIVM very remarkable. “We’ve had tough flu seasons before, but then there was also more leeway.” Since the coronavirus outbreak, there has been more absenteeism among healthcare personnel. There is also an increase not only in flu patients, but also in corona virus and RS patients, meaning there is less room for manoeuvre, Rovers continues.

Leon van den Toorn, president of the Dutch Association of Physicians for Lung Diseases and Tuberculosis (NVALT) and pulmonologist at Erasmus MC, also sees pressure on healthcare increasing. “It’s an attack on the entire healthcare chain, from general practitioners to hospitals to aftercare. He doesn’t see any major problems yet, but thinks we should be careful to keep the pressures in healthcare manageable. We’ve been together and not we know but what will happen to the admissions figures.”

Both doctors are urging people to stay home if they have the flu. “The flu is very different from a ‘cold.’ The chance of complications with the flu increases in people with frail health,” says Van den Toorn. “Stay home if you’re sick and arrogant, avoid people in frail health,” Rovers also says.