Targeting of blood safety measures to affected areas with ongoing local transmission of malaria.

An outbreak of locally acquired Plasmodium vivax malaria in Greece started in 2009 and peaked in 2011. Targeting of blood safety measures to affected areas with ongoing transmission of malaria raised questions of how to define spatial boundaries of such an area and when to trigger any specific blood safety measures, including whether and which blood donation screening strategy to apply. To provide scientific advice the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) organised expert meetings in 2013.

The knowledge, attitudes and practices of wintersun vacationers to the Gambia toward prevention of malaria: is it really that bad?

Background: Each year clusters of imported malaria cases are observed in Dutch wintersun vacationers returning from The Gambia. To gain more insight in the travel health preparation and awareness of these travellers, the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of this travel group was studied by analysing the data of the Continuous Dutch Schiphol Airport Survey.

Methods: In the years 2002 to 2009 a questionnaire-based survey was conducted at the Dutch Schiphol Airport with the aim to study the KAP, i.

Keeping venomous snakes in the Netherlands: a harmless hobby or a public health threat?

Objective: To describe the incidence of venomous snakebites and the hospital treatment thereof (if any) amongst private individuals who keep venomous snakes as a hobby.

Structure: Descriptive study.

Method: Private keepers of venomous snakes were invited via the social media Facebook, Hyves, Twitter, Google Plus, Linked In and two large discussion forums to fill in an online questionnaire on a purely voluntary and anonymous basis.

Trends in the knowledge, attitudes and practices of travel risk groups toward prevention of hepatitis B: results from the repeated cross-sectional Dutch Schiphol Airport Survey 2002-2009.

Background: Previous studies investigating the travellers' knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) profile indicated an important educational need among those travelling to risk destinations.

Methods: In the years 2002-2009 an annually repeated cross-sectional questionnaire-based survey was conducted at the Dutch Schiphol Airport with the aim to study trends in KAP of travel risk groups toward prevention of hepatitis B. The frequently encountered risk groups last-minute travellers, solo-travellers, business travellers, travellers visiting friends and relatives (VFR) and elderly travellers were specifically studied.

Travel health preparation and travel-related morbidity of splenectomised individuals.

Asplenic or hyposplenic patients are at an increased risk of encapsulated bacterial and intraerythrocytic parasitic infections, which are endemic at many travel destinations. With proper travel health advice and preparation splenectomised individuals could have comparable travel-related morbidity as healthy control subjects. We conducted a prospective case-control study with 21 travel pairs.