Vaccination coverage for vaccinations in the Dutch National Vaccination Program (NIP) decreased slightly by about half a percent for the third consecutive year.

Since May 2015, there has been a Zika virus outbreak in South and Central America, including the Caribbean. The Zika virus can cause birth defects, including microcephaly (small head size).

An increasing number of clients tested at a Dutch STI clinic for a sexually transmitted infection (STI) is diagnosed with gonorrhoea, syphilis and chlamydia.

There is a large international outbreak currently of hepatitis A, mostly among gay and bisexual men. In several European countries more than 1,000 patients have been reported.

People who live near poultry farms and goat farms suffer from pneumonia more often. In the area surveyed, every year about 1650 people per 100,000 residents get pneumonia.

The National Heat Plan became active in the Netherlands on June 19th. This means that it is necessary to take preventive health measures for vulnerable groups.

The concentrations of the 43 most important greenhouse gases are at unprecedented, record-high levels compared to the last higher than ever in the past 800,000 years.

The Dutch Society for Radiation Protection (NVS) has awarded its Joh Aten Grant 2015 to Teun van Dillen of the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) for his work on

The most recent measles epidemic and outbreak of Salmonella Thomson due to smoked salmon have cost 3.9 and 1.7 million euros, respectively.

Wednesday, 18 November is European Antibiotic Awareness Day. On this day, attention throughout Europe is requested for the responsible use of antibiotics in people and animals.