Belgian hospitals are under pressure due to a significant increase in flu-related hospitalisations, according to the latest weekly report on respiratory diseases from the Sciensano health institute.
The weekly incidence of hospitalisations for severe acute respiratory infections has risen from 11.4 per 100,000 inhabitants to 17.2 per 100,000, indicating a high level of activity.
“The flu epidemic has caused a heavy workload,” said Lieve Dhaene, from the Flemish healthcare organisation Zorgnet-Icuro. “We believe we have reached a plateau, and the peak will decline more slowly than it increased. We observe that some hospitals are postponing non-urgent care, but this does not apply to all hospitals.”
General practitioners (GPs) are also noticing this peak. The number of doctors reporting a high workload due to consultations for respiratory infections continues to rise.
The number of GP consultations for flu symptoms has surged in recent weeks and is now 926 per 100,000 inhabitants, surpassing the high activity threshold. According to Sciensano, this figure is higher than the peak observed last season.
