Today’s edition of Trouw reports that the Netherlands is now officially in the grip of a Mexican flu epidemic and inoculation will start in November. The National Institute for Public Health and the Environment says it’s only a mild epidemic, at least for now. Trouw writes that, until recently, the Mexican flu did not make much headway in the Netherlands: “The disease was mostly raging in the media. But this has changed.”

The latest figures show that the country has reached epidemic levels. According to official criteria, an epidemic has broken out when GPs register more than 55 people with flu-related complaints per 100,000 people for two consecutive weeks. The figure was 69 for week 41 and 42 (5 until 18 October).

The exact number of infections will be released later today, including the number of patients infected with the H1N1 virus. The National Institute for Public Health and the Environment says other flu viruses are not really in circulation at present, so the majority of cases will involve the Mexican flu virus.

During a regular flu epidemic, 30 to 40 percent of all patients who visit the doctor with flu-related symptoms actually have flu. In week 41, 15 percent of those suffering from flu symptoms were infected with the H1N1 virus. The other patients were suffering from a serious cold.

However, experts say the epidemic may appear more serious than it actually is because the widespread publicity about the Mexican flu may have led to larger numbers of people seeing their GPs than would otherwise have been the case.

The Netherlands will start vaccinations against the Mexican flu in the second week of November.

Economic affairs minister wants fuel prices on SatNav systems
Economic Affairs Minister Maria van der Hoeven wants oil companies to make their fuel prices available via SatNav systems as well as on the internet. Motorists must also be able to find the cheapest petrol station via SatNav. De Telegraaf reports that, should the oil companies fail to comply with the ministerial wishes, she will make her demands compulsory as of 1 July 2010.

The minister says that, unlike power prices and mobile phone rates, it is very difficult to compare fuel prices while on the road. Ms Van der Hoeven says: “When petrol stations make their fuel prices more easy to find and compare, their customers will benefit more from the price differences between petrol stations along motorways.”

The economic affairs minister says she is threatening to take action because petrol stations and oil companies have ignored earlier calls to make all their fuel prices easily available to motorists. The Ecorys research bureau says price differences can be as big as 4.6 euro cents per litre. Particularly along the main motorways, motorists pay too much for their fuel.

Widespread sexual abuse of mentally handicapped
Today’s AD reports that many people with a slight mental disability are the victims of sexual abuse.

Dirk Verstegen, Director of the VOBC/LVG, a national organisation of 21 special needs treatment centres, says most of the residents of the treatment centres have been abused at least once in their lives. According to him, medical files show hundreds of people have been victimised. “Mildly mentally disabled people are deferred to us in case of serious behavioural issues, for instance by the child care authorities. Their treatment for the most part focuses on sexual abuse.”

AD writes that there are no solid figures on the number of victims. Often no report is filed, and even when it does happen, the authorities do not register whether the victim is a mentally disabled person.

Experts involved in their care are seriously concerned about the increased chance of mentally handicapped people to become the victims of sexual abuse. Not just because of their limited mental capacities, but also of their generally disadvantaged social and economic position, which makes them easy prey for lover boys, gang rapists and people who commit incest.

Chinese gangs accused of fixing Dutch Premier League matches
Canadian investigative reporter Declan Hill says Chinese gangs in Amsterdam and Rotterdam have bribed First Division football players to influence the outcome of matches at the behest of influential Asian gambling operators.

De Volkskrant writes that Mr Hill’s accusations are based on conversations with sources in the Asian gambling world. The Dutch football union KNVB is taking the matter seriously. Director Hans Kesler says: “If there is reason, we will investigate any match.”

Declan Hill, who has done five years’ worth of global research into bribery in football, says the Dutch teams in question are lower-ranking First Division teams which in the past few weeks deliberately lost away matches by a wide margin. He says he knows the names of the teams and the suspect results, but will only mention them in his book, which is scheduled to be published ahead of the World Football Championships in 2010.

KNVB Director Kesler says the accusations have taken him by surprise, but added he cannot rule out that professional teams in Dutch football have been bribed. “No system is watertight. The underworld always succeeds in finding loopholes in the law.”

The European football union UEFA is wrapping up its investigation into 40 matches in national and international competitions. Most of the teams under investigation are from Eastern Europe, but Belgian Karl Dhont, who leads the investigation, says he is sure bribery also occurs among Western European teams.

Controversial monument to 1940 Rotterdam bombing
Also on the front page of de Volkskrant, a photograph of a statue outside the War and Resistance Museum in Rotterdam. The paper writes that the statue, a scale model of a German bomber of the type that was used in the 14 May 1940 bombing stood on its tail, was greeted with mixed emotions when it was unveiled. Sculptor Onno Poiesz, who named the statue The Shadow, says it is ‘a marking’ for the generations who did not witness the bombing.

The German bombing was intended to break Dutch resistance in the battle for the Maas Bridge. The resulting fire raged for several days; 850 people were killed while 25,000 homes and 11,000 other buildings were destroyed.