Vaccination rate again drops slightly, HPV vaccination rate drops considerably The vaccination rate for vaccines included in the National Immunisation Programme has dropped slightly by about 1 percent.
Protection of Defence personnel against health risks of chromium-6 was inadequate From 1984-2006, employees of the Dutch Ministry of Defence were exposed to chromium-6 during maintenance work.
Alertness about the Zika virus still needed for pregnant women 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).
Every year, 300,000 tick bites in urban areas One in 5 tick bites occurs in an urban area. Although most tick bites occur in the countryside, many people are bitten in urban areas as well.
Blood spot test extended as of 1 January 2017 to include two more disorders As of 1 January 2017, the disorders alpha and beta thalassaemia will be added to the neonatal blood spot (‘heel prick’) screening programme.
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).
Newborn heel prick screening starts on St Eustatius and Saba On 26 October 2015, heel prick screening started for all newborns on St Eustatius and Saba.
RIVM participates in large EU project to head up global fight against infectious diseases COMPARE, a large EU project intends to speed up the detection of, and response to disease outbreaks among humans and animals worldwide, through the use of new genome technology.
RIVM and Olive Foundation open trading to mark the European Cervical Cancer Prevention Week January 20th, the Olive Foundation and RIVM opened AEX trading day in Amsterdam on the occasion of the 9th European Cervical Cancer Prevention Week.
The National Immunisation Programme in the Netherlands 2013 - 2014 Every year, RIVM provides an overview of surveillance and developments in the National Immunisation Programme (NIP).