Several Dutch hospitals have stopped admitting new patients because of the flu epidemic, Dutch media said on Thursday.

A surge in the number of elderly flu sufferers, in particular, is straining services in some parts of the country. Two hospitals in Brabant have introduced a patient stop while the Westfriesgasthuis hospital in Hoorn has sent some patients to other hospitals in Friesland.The Albert Schweitzer hospital in Dordrecht is also referring patients elsewhere.

‘People with flu are not usually admitted but vulnerable elderly people can become very ill indeed,’ a spokesman for the Hoorn hospital said.