Most people in the Netherlands (76 per cent) brush their teeth at least two times a day. Another 22 per cent brush once a day, while 2 per cent do not brush every day. This is evident from new figures reported for RIVM’s Oral Health Monitor.

The mental health of higher education students was slightly better in 2025 compared with 2021. Among other things, fewer students reported emotional exhaustion, loneliness and pressure to perform. That being said, a large proportion of students still feel ill at ease and experience mental health issues.

Specific pathogenic bacteria in the Netherlands showed increasing resistance in 2024. In particular, bacteria that cause urinary tract infections and skin infections were more frequently resistant to medicines than in previous years.

Climate change will lead to more tropical days and warm nights in summer, and fewer cold days in winter. In the Netherlands the risk of dying increases when it is hot. The municipality of Amsterdam wants to know what this means for their residents. Therefore, RIVM investigated whether there was an association between temperature and mortality in Amsterdam between 2007 and 2019.

The Netherlands Cohorts Consortium (NCC) will receive an infrastructure subsidy of 17 million euros for a large-scale study into healthy ageing. Through its Doetinchem Cohort Study, RIVM is one of the partners in the NCC.

In 2024, the number of people who became ill from salmonella rose again, continuing the trend from 2023. There were also more poultry farms contaminated with these bacteria. The main type found was Salmonella enteritidis. There were fewer bird flu infections at poultry farms compared to 2023.

Between 2019 and 2023, more than 149,000 immigrants and asylum-seekers were screened for tuberculosis (TB) after arriving in the Netherlands. The screening enabled rapid detection of 312 people with TB. These findings are from the evaluation of the screening programme, conducted by RIVM. For the first time, the analysis also included the results of follow-up screening for tuberculosis infection among immigrants over 18 years of age. 13% of the screened immigrants were shown to have a TB infection.

The new SARS-CoV-2 variant XFG (also referred to as Stratus) causes hardly any difference in symptoms than previous variants of the coronavirus. Similarly, the symptoms do not seem to be more severe. This is the result of an exploratory study by RIVM among Infection Radar survey participants.

In October, many people will receive their seasonal flu vaccine invitation again. The purpose of this vaccine is to protect people with additional risk, for example due to being 60 years of age or older or due to particular medical conditions, from becoming seriously ill from flu. They can get the flu vaccine from their GP or in-house physician.