Respiratory illnesses on the rise in Belgium

The warning level for respiratory infections in Belgium has been raised from code yellow to orange, according to health minister Frank Vandenbroucke (Vooruit), meaning many healthcare staff are back to wearing face masks.

Face masks are recommended in general but especially in healthcare facilities, Bruzz reports, for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic ended.

The recommendation does not necessarily indicate an exceptional flu epidemic, as Belgium’s ‘Winter Plan for Respiratory Infections’ should ensure the country is better prepared for recurrent outbreaks of flu, RSV or Covid, for example.

“In Brussels, the hospitals themselves choose what to do with the advice [to wear face masks],” said Delphine Jarosinski, spokesperson for Iris Hospitals South in Brussels.

“Our staff are wearing face masks. We ask patients to wear a mask if they have symptoms.”

The benefits of face masks are especially critical as Brussels hospitals see an influx in patients, which Jarosinski confirmed is the case while noting that there was currently no issue of overwhelm.

Annemie Deleenheer, vice-president of the Brussels GP Circle, also said the workload of doctors remains manageable: “There’s pressure, but we’re still carrying on in our practice.”

Nevertheless, the real peak of the flu epidemic - which officially started in December - is likely yet to come, according to Claude Hautain, head of the emergency department at Saint-Jean hospital.

“We fear an increase because vaccination coverage was lower than usual this year,” Hautain said.

While that is true for Belgian figures, David Herco, medical coordinator for prevention at the Brussels health agency Vivalis, said “at the Brussels level, there is a slight increase of 1% among vaccinated over-65s”.

Despite the increase compared to last year, Vivalis is still urging over-65s to get vaccinated.

Vivalis is also asking Brussels residents to call on their GPs for non-urgent complaints as much as possible to relieve the hospitals' emergency departments.