Belgium is officially dealing with a flu epidemic, according to the weekly report on respiratory infections by the Sciensano National Health Institute on Thursday.
The weekly incidence of GP consultations for respiratory infections caused by flu was 115 per 100,000 population in week 51 of this year (from 16 to 22 December). The number of confirmed lab tests for flu is also on the rise.
"We have indeed passed the epidemiological threshold of GP consultations for flu for two weeks now," confirmed virologist Steven Van Gucht. "This makes it a relatively early start to the annual flu epidemic. The number of flu cases will rise further in the coming weeks."
Virologist Johan Neyts agreed, saying that the number of cases is still relatively low during the Christmas holidays. "But when schools open again we will probably see an increase in the figures."
Credit: Belga/Nicolas Maeterlinck
Which sub-variant of the influenza virus is currently making the rounds is not clear at the moment.
The number of infections with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is also still high. That figure had been rising for several weeks, but now seems to be on a downward trend. "For RSV, we were still well above the epidemiological threshold at week 51. The peak is not over yet, but the number is already declining. We hope that once this one is over there will not be a second one."
The peak also seems to be lower than in the past two years, leading Neyts to be "cautiously optimistic" that the country is seeing the impact of the new vaccine, which has been reimbursed since 1 October. "I think we are seeing an impact from both vaccination of pregnant women and antibody injection of infants born in the RSV season."
Flu vaccination?
From mid-October, the vaccination campaign against seasonal flu in Belgium started. A total of about 2.7 million flu vaccines are available for flu season 2024 - 2025.
Flu or influenza is a respiratory condition caused by infection with an influenza virus. In most cases, flu has a favourable course, but complications such as pneumonia can occur in certain high-risk groups. The best way to avoid complications and hospitalisation is vaccination.
As influenza viruses are constantly evolving, flu vaccines are updated annually.
Anyone can collect the flu vaccine directly from the pharmacist, with a prescription from a doctor. The vaccine is partially reimbursed for people belonging to high-risk groups.
