Infectious diseases, which occur frequently in the Netherlands, can form a threat to public health. RIVM plays a significant role in the prevention and control of infectious diseases. All activities in this area have been integrated into the Center for Infectious Disease Control.  More information

Diagnosis for adequate treatment 
In treating infectious disease it is necessary to know which pathogen has caused the disease. Infections caused by the many frequently occurring pathogens are diagnosed in the Netherlands at medical-microbiological laboratories. RIVM is equipped to perform diagnosis for particular infectious diseases and is specialized in performing further typing. RIVM is also developing new and/or faster diagnostic methods for emerging infectious diseases, such as SARS.   

Surveillance and early signalling for good control
RIVM collects large-scale national and international data on infectious diseases, primarily from laboratories, Municipal Health Services, hospitals and general practitioners. To get an overview of the infectious diseases occurring in the Netherlands and abroad (surveillance). Potential epidemics must be signalled as soon as possible and reported to the appropriate responsible authorities (persons and institutions) in the Netherlands (early warning). This strategy is facilitated by RIVM’s weekly ‘Signalling consultation’ and an email service called Inf@ct.

Prevention of infectious diseases
Vaccination constitutes an important means of protecting people from serious infectious diseases. The RIVM plays a significant role in monitoring the incidence and prevalence of  vaccination-related diseases and side-effects of vaccinations. RIVM is also responsible for communication around the National Immunisation Programme. More information

Outbreak management, guidelines and time schedules
The RIVM develops guidelines for infectious diseases comprising information on the state-of–the-art, national agreements on how to control the disease and the role of the participants play in this disease control. As soon as an infectious disease becomes a threat to several regions, the Outbreak Management Team (OMT) convenes. The OMT advises a coordination consultative body,  which measures schould take place. Scenarios provides step-by-step time schedulesf or coping with large-scale epidemics. 
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