It may seem that the flu is getting worse. Some even fell for a few days. What about that: are you getting sicker from the flu these days? Dragonfly explains.
Was the flu more severe than before?
To get straight to the point: no, the flu is not more severe than how we experienced it a few years ago. That is what a spokesperson for the RIVM says. “People sometimes forget how sick it makes you and people may be a little less aware of it.”
Flu once in ten years
The spokesperson continued: “People who think they have the flu every year probably don’t. On average, people only get the flu once every ten years.” According to the spokesperson, you will be protected against the flu for years afterwards. “People who have flu symptoms every year probably have a different virus.”
The Nivel (Netherlands Institute for Healthcare Research) estimates that about 10 percent of the population worldwide gets the flu every year. According to the institute, many people mistake the flu for a common cold. While the flu is much more serious and often accompanied by a fever or pneumonia.
flu season
Professor of medical microbiology Heiman Wertheim of Radboudumc tells the AD the most striking thing about this flu wave. And that, according to him, is that it has been delayed. Normally the flu wave starts somewhere in December or January, now only in March. “That has everything to do with the corona measures. Since those have been relaxed, people come together more. So there are also more infections.”
According to him, the flu season is currently not as severe as in 2018, but that could happen next year, for example. “You just have a severe flu season now and then, so that will surely come again,” says the professor.
Flu shot less good
Something that RIVM is concerned about is that the flu shot may not work as well. Research has shown that the flu viruses in the vaccines that were given last autumn do not quite match the flu viruses that are now most widely circulated in the Netherlands. This means that the flu shot may not protect as well against an infection with the flu virus. About 6 million people have received this shot in the past year.
According to the RIVM, this can be a cause for concern, because it may cause pressure in healthcare. According to the latest figures from sickness absence insurance company Interpolis, the number of absenteeism reports at the end of March was already 50 percent higher than in the last years before the pandemic.
Source: AD