Flu season in the winter of 2014 / 2015 more severe and longer than preceding years

donderdag 22 oktober 2015 12:00

The flu epidemic in the winter of 2014/2015 lasted 21 weeks and as such was the longest epidemic ever recorded in the Netherlands. Nearly two million people suffered from flu-like symptoms. About 10,000 people were hospitalised for complications from flu, such as pneumonia. During the flu epidemic period, more than 65,000 persons died in the Netherlands; this is approximately 8,600 persons more than the expected number of deaths in this 21-week period. This excess mortality may be associated with the flu. These are the results of the RIVM annual report on influenza and other respiratory infections. The annual report lists the results of the ongoing surveillance and research that RIVM carries out in collaboration with partners to closely monitor developments in the field of respiratory infections to enable timely appropriate measures.