RIVM staff are all specialists in a certain field. Nevertheless, they are not ‘pure’ scientists but they combine scientific expertise with a great desire to serve society at large. Knowledge should be of practical use in addressing current social issues such as sustainability, zoonotic diseases or nanotechnology.

Pregnant people who are not vaccinated against measles and have never had measles themselves have a higher risk of severe illness due to measles. Read more about it here and find out what you can do to keep from becoming ill.

Measles is a virus that can make people very ill. The MMR vaccination offers effective protection against measles. Read more about the MMR vaccination and protection against measles in the Netherlands on this page. You can also read about how to find out if you are protected against the disease.

Are there people with measles in your city or the surrounding area? You may have questions. Read more on this page about the measures that apply if a person with measles has been at the school or childcare facility – and what you should do if your child played with another child who has measles.

This page provides information about the estimated disease burden of COVID-19 and influenza, expressed in DALYs.Expressing disease burden in a single measure makes it possible to compare the loss of health caused by different diseases. Such comparison is important for prioritizing policies and resources for combating (infectious) diseases. A commonly used measure for disease burden is the disability-adjusted life year, or DALY. Disease burden in DALYs reflects the sum of healthy life years lost due to illness and disability (years lived with disability: YLD) and due to premature death (years of life lost: YLL). Detailed descriptions of the methods used can be found in a previous edition of the State of Infectious Diseases (in Dutch)(PDF). This page presents estimates of DALYs for COVID-19 and influenza. The disease burden of long-term effects after a SARS-CoV-2 infection, known as the 'post-COVID syndrome', is not included. A more extensive description of these two infectious diseases, as well as 35 other infectious diseases in the Netherlands, is published in the State of Infectious Diseases 2024 (in Dutch). 

Overview of all RIVM reports and scientific publications on endocrine disrupting chemicals.

RIVM takes part in various national and international research projects studying endocrine disrupting chemicals. These projects aim to gather data and develop testing methods to establish whether a substance qualifies as an endocrine disrupting chemical. The European Commission, the Dutch Research Council (NWO) and RIVM have made funding available for research. Given below is a list of projects on endocrine disrupting chemicals in which RIVM participates.

RIVM is involved in research into endocrine disrupting chemicals and in the assessment of substances for endocrine disrupting properties. RIVM also provides advice on these issues to the Dutch government and international bodies. Additionally, within the Netherlands RIVM has set up a national knowledge network on endocrine disruptors. RIVM combines scientific research with the development and implementation of regulations, in close collaboration with policy partners. This combined expertise makes RIVM a valuable partner in research projects and international expert committees.