First West Nile virus patient in the Netherlands A male patient has been diagnosed with the West Nile virus last week. The man has not been abroad recently. He may have contracted the virus in the region of Utrecht due to a mosquito bite.
Population screening programmes temporarily on hold Due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, the health care capacity in the Netherlands is expected to come under severe pressure in the coming period.
How to distinguish a dual user from an exclusive e-cigarette user RIVM and Maastricht University have identified a combination of factors that can be used to distinguish between exclusive e-cigarette users (vapers) on the one hand and people who smoke both regula
Young people who use screens before sleeping have more sleep problems Young people (13-18 years) who use light-emitting screens daily in the hour before going to sleep have more sleep problems.
Rubber granulate on synthetic turf fields causes environmental impact Use of rubber granulate sourced from car tyres, on synthetic turf fields can be harmful to the environment in the close vicinity of these fields.
RIVM measures much higher levels of tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide in cigarettes Tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide (TNCO) levels measured in accordance with the Canadian Intense (CI) method are at least twice as high as the levels measured in accordance with the prescribed ISO
Addictive nicotine and harmful substances also present in heated tobacco Heated tobacco products are newly available on the market. An example of such a product is the heatstick which is heated with an iQOS, a device that looks like an e-cigarette.
RIVM withdraws from tobacco committees The Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment will leave the NEN/CEN/ISO committees for tobacco and e-cigarettes with immediate effect.
Scientific background information on rubber granulate now available in English In December 2016, RIVM published in Dutch the results of its research into the health risks of playing sports on synthetic turf pitches with rubber granulate.
Guus Velders in Nature's "Ten people that mattered this year" Researcher Dr Guus Velders of RIVM has made the Nature top-10 list of 2016. This means that, according to Nature, he was one of the 10 most influential scientists in 2016.