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The number of people reporting flu-like symptoms to their general practitioner is on the rise again, according to data from the research institute Nivel. Last week, GPs saw 70 people with flu-like symptoms for every 100,000 population. The Nivel speaks of ‘a strong increase’ compared to the previous weeks.
There has been an official flu epidemic in the Netherlands for a week now. The National Institute of Public Health and the Environment generally reports such an outbreak when more than 58 out of 100,000 people go to the general practitioner with flu-like ailments, and ten percent of the samples tested contain the flu virus. The Nivel reports that the flu virus is currently found in considerably more samples taken by doctors from patients with ailments. 98 samples were taken last week and the flu virus was found in more than a third of them.
More viruses
Physicians have also found other viruses, like it human metapneumovirusthe rhinovirus and the RS virus. The corona virus was found slightly more often than in the previous Nivel report, last week. According to the institute, general practitioners mainly see elderly people with a corona infection, but also relatively many elderly people with pneumonia.
