Longest ever recorded flu epidemic measured in 2015 The most notable infectious disease outbreak in 2015 was the flu epidemic in the winter of 2014-2015, which at 21 weeks was the longest ever recorded in the Netherlands.
First patient infected by tick-borne encephalitis virus For the first time, a person in the Netherlands has fallen ill after a bite from a tick carrying the tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBE virus).
Livestock farming affects pulmonary function in local residents COPD patients living near livestock farms suffer more complications.
Nicoline Tamsma re-elected as EuroHealthNet president Nicoline Tamsma has been elected to serve a new two-year term as EuroHealthNet president. EuroHealthNet is a European network organisation of public health and health promotion institutes.
Bacteria slightly more often resistant to last resort antibiotics Antimicrobial resistance is a global problem. In the Netherlands, some bacteria that can cause infections in people are more frequently resistant to antibiotics used as a last resort.
RIVM and German BfR enter cooperation agreement on animal protection and food safety The German Federal Institute of Risk Assessment (BfR) and the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, RIVM have signed a cooperation agreement, focused on developing new sci
Need for circular use of materials in construction Construction and demolition waste are being recycled on a large scale to use as a foundation for e.g. roads, but recycled building materials are hardly ever used in the construction of buildings.
Breakthrough on cumulative risk assessment exposure to pesticides in food The European Commission, Member States and EFSA have taken a major step forward in their work on assessing the cumulative risks from exposure to pesticides in food.
Tool for risk assessment of nanomaterials in cosmetics Both regulators and manufacturers need to evaluate and manage consumer health risks that may be posed by the use of nanomaterials in cosmetics.
New possibilities for the responsible recycling of plastics RIVM proposes the consideration of a broader environmental perspective in the trade-off between incineration or recycling of plastics.