Candida auris in Dutch hospitals: are we ready for it?

Background: Candida auris can cause nosocomial outbreaks and provides challenges concerning diagnosis, treatment, eradication and infection prevention. There are no Dutch standards or guidelines for C. auris, and current hospital practices are unknown.

Regulatory preparedness for multicomponent nanomaterials: Current state, gaps and challenges of REACH.

In 2018 the European Commission adopted revisions to the Annexes of Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 concerning registration, evaluation, authorisation and restriction of chemicals (REACH) to introduce nanomaterial-specific clarifications and provisions. Multicomponent nanomaterial (MCNM) is a non-regulatory term that has been used in recent EU-funded projects to describe nanomaterials with a complex structure and/or composition and which are expected to be increasingly used in products in the near future. This paper examines the regulatory preparedness of REACH, and its revised Annexes, for MCNMs.

Comparative assessment of airborne infection risk tools in enclosed spaces: Implications for disease control.

The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by SARS-CoV-2, highlighted the importance of understanding transmission modes and implementing effective mitigation strategies. Recognizing airborne transmission as a primary route has reshaped public health measures, emphasizing the need to optimize indoor environments to reduce risks. Numerous tools have emerged to assess airborne infection risks in enclosed spaces, providing valuable resources for public health authorities, researchers, and the general public.

Automated noise modelling using a triangulated terrain model.

Noise simulations are an important part of noise studies that investigate the impact of noise sources on the environment. In noise simulation, noise levels at receiver points are calculated based on the noise propagation paths between the receiver and source points. These paths are derived from the height of the terrain.

Excellent capability for molecular detection of -borne dengue, Zika, and chikungunya viruses but with a need for increased capacity for yellow fever and Japanese encephalitis viruses: an external quality assessment in 36 European laboratories.

Mosquito-borne viruses represent a large global health burden. With geographic expansion of competent vectors for chikungunya virus (CHIKV), dengue virus (DENV), and Zika virus (ZIKV) in Europe, it is anticipated that the number of autochthonous cases of these tropical viruses in Europe will increase. Therefore, regular assessment of diagnostic capabilities in Europe is important.

Learning from Post COVID-19 condition for epidemic preparedness: a variable catalogue for future Post-Acute Infection Syndromes.

Scope: The emergence of Post-COVID-19 Condition (PCC) following SARS-CoV-2 infection underscores the critical need for preparedness in addressing future Post-Acute Infection Syndromes (PAIS), particularly those linked to epidemic outbreaks. The lack of standardized clinical and epidemiological data during the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly hindered timely diagnosis and effective treatment of PCC, highlighting the necessity of pre-emptively standardizing data collection in clinical studies to better define and manage future PAIS. In response, the Cohort Coordination Board (CCB), a consortium of European-funded COVID-19 research projects, has reviewed data from PCC studies conducted by its members.

Estimating the effect of COVID-19 vaccination and prior infection on Ct values as a proxy of SARS-CoV-2 viral load.

Objectives: SARS-CoV-2 viral load could be an important parameter for transmission potential. Here, we use RT-qPCR cycle threshold (Ct) values as a proxy for viral load. We assess the effect of COVID-19 vaccination and prior infection status on Ct value, while accounting for the virus variant.

Home-based nursing care for clients carrying multidrug-resistant organisms: a focus group study in the Netherlands.

Background: The growing population of vulnerable clients receiving home-based nursing care (HBNC), combined with the worldwide increase in the prevalence of multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs), poses a new burden on nursing staff. This study explored the attitudes, perceptions, experiences, challenges and needs of nursing staff providing HBNC for clients carrying MDROs.

Methods: Seven focus groups with home-based nursing staff (N=34) were performed in the Netherlands between April and July 2022, using a semi-structured, open-ended topic list based on the Integrated-change model and seven domains synthesized by Flottorp and colleagues.

Assessing occupational styrene exposure in the European and US Glass Reinforced Plastics Industry for the period between 1947 and 2020.

Background: We aimed to develop a method for assessing occupational styrene exposures for application in epidemiological studies on risks of lymphohematopoietic neoplasms and other malignant and non-malignant diseases in the European and the US glass reinforced plastics industries.

Method: We estimated a linear mixed effects model based on individual airborne personal measurements of styrene from the glass reinforced plastics industry in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, UK, and the US. The most suitable model was chosen based on its predictive power as assessed using cross validation with different combinations of predictors; and by comparing their prediction errors.

Similarities between and genomes and horizontal gene transfer from their endosymbionts.

The taxa and are sympatric in Tunisia. The genetics underlying their morphological differences are unresolved. In this study, ticks collected in Jouza-Amdoun, Tunisia, were morphologically identified and sequenced using Oxford Nanopore Technologies.

Cross-sectoral genomic surveillance reveals a lack of insight in sources of human infections with Shiga toxin-producing , the Netherlands, 2017 to 2023.

Shiga toxin-producing (STEC) is a zoonotic pathogen associated with illness ranging from mild diarrhoea to haemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) or even death. Cross-sectoral data sharing provides an opportunity to gain insight in reservoirs and sources of human infections and starting points for pro-active measures. Nevertheless, phylogenetic clustering of STEC strains from animals, food and human cases is low in the Dutch surveillance system.

When and why do people change their minds in favor of vaccination? Longitudinal analyses of switching COVID-19 vaccination preferences.

Background: Vaccinations are a cornerstone of public health. However, reluctance to accepting vaccines is common. Using longitudinal data, we investigated which individual and contextual factors were associated with switching preferences from initial hesitancy or unwillingness toward acceptance of a first COVID-19 vaccination.

Impact on murine neurodevelopment of early-life exposure to airborne ultrafine carbon nanoparticles.

The effects of ultrafine particle (UFP) inhalation on neurodevelopment, especially during critical windows of early life, remain largely unexplored. The specific time windows during which exposure to UFP might be the most detrimental remain poorly understood. Here, we studied early-life exposure to clean ultrafine carbonaceous particles (UFP) and neurodevelopment and central nervous system function in offspring.

Patterns of News Consumption during the COVID-19 Pandemic Crisis: A 2.5 Year Longitudinal Study in the Netherlands.

During major long-term crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, news media are crucial sources of information for the public. This study aimed to explore the frequency of COVID-19-related news consumption based on (1) phase of the pandemic, (2) socio-demographic characteristics, and (3) news information channels. The study used a dynamic cohort design with 18 rounds of data collection, including 306,692 responses from 83,180 unique respondents in the Netherlands from 17 April 2020 to 11 September 2022.

Business intelligence systems for population health management: a scoping review.

Objective: Population health management (PHM) is a promising data-driven approach to address the challenges faced by health care systems worldwide. Although Business Intelligence (BI) systems are known to be relevant for a data-driven approach, the usage for PHM is limited in its elaboration. To explore available scientific publications, a systematic review guided by PRISMA was conducted of mature BI initiatives to investigate their decision contexts and BI capabilities.

Predicting population-level vulnerability among pregnant women using routinely collected data and the added relevance of self-reported data.

Recognizing and addressing vulnerability during the first thousand days of life can prevent health inequities. It is necessary to determine the best data for predicting multidimensional vulnerability (i.e.

Reducing antimicrobial use in livestock alone may be not sufficient to reduce antimicrobial resistance among human infections: an ecological study in the Netherlands.

Reducing antimicrobial use (AMU) in livestock may be one of the keys to limit the emergence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in bacterial populations, including zoonotic pathogens. This study assessed the temporal association between AMU in livestock and AMR among isolates from human infections in the Netherlands between 2004 - 2020. Moreover, the associations between AMU and AMR in livestock and between AMR in livestock and AMR in human isolates were assessed.

Intestinal Carriage of Two Distinct -Carrying Strains by a Child with Uncomplicated Diarrhea.

Two distinct -carrying () strains, isolated from a child with uncomplicated diarrhea fifteen weeks apart, were characterized by combining short- and long-read sequencing to compare their genetic relatedness. One strain was characterized as Shiga toxin-producing (STEC)/typical enteropathogenic (tEPEC) O63:H6 with a repertoire of virulence genes including , (α2-subtype), , and . The other STEC with serotype O157:H16, reported for the first time as -carrying in this study, possessed, in addition, (ε-subtype) and , amongst other virulence-related genes.

Twenty Years of Lyme Borreliosis in the Netherlands: Temporal Trends in Seroprevalence and Risk Factors.

Lyme borreliosis (LB) is not notifiable in many European countries, and the patchwork of surveillance strategies in Europe perpetuates knowledge gaps. In the Netherlands, LB incidence has been estimated from recurring general practitioner surveys since the 1990s. To complement the incidence data, this study aimed to estimate the prevalence of antibodies against sensu lato in the general population of the Netherlands in 1995/1996, identify risk factors for seropositivity, and compare these findings to data from 2016/2017 to identify temporal trends.