6,546 results match your criteria: "National institute for Public Health and the Environment[Affiliation]"

COVID-19 Health Impact: A Use Case for Syndromic Surveillance System Monitoring Based on Primary Care Patient Registries in the Netherlands.

JMIR Public Health Surveill

September 2024

Faculty of Behavioral and Social Sciences, University of Groningen, Grote Kruisstraat 2/1, Groningen, 9712 TS, the Netherlands, 31 (0)50-363 6419.

Article Synopsis
  • The COVID-19 pandemic led to significant health challenges worldwide, prompting measures to reduce infections that had unintended negative effects on public health, particularly among youth.
  • This study aimed to utilize an existing syndromic surveillance system in the Netherlands to monitor health issues in young people related to the pandemic, analyzing data quarterly since August 2021.
  • Results indicated a notable increase in youth consultations for mental health issues, such as depression and suicide attempts, which correlated with periods of stricter COVID-19 restrictions, indicating the importance of ongoing health monitoring during crisis situations.
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  • Multidrug-resistant organisms (MDRO) are a major public health concern, and understanding their genomic characteristics is vital for monitoring and controlling infections.
  • This study focuses on the use of long-read whole-genome sequencing (WGS) to analyze the molecular profiles of 356 MDRO isolates, including various bacteria such as Klebsiella pneumoniae and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
  • Results showed that long-read sequencing provides comparable molecular data to short-read sequencing, with high consistency in multi-locus sequence typing (wgMLST) profiles, though some differences were noted in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
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Purpose: The European Medicines Agency (EMA) issued regulatory actions and communications in 2021 on thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) associated with adenovirus vector vaccines Vaxzevria or Jcovden. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of these actions on awareness, knowledge and implementation in practises of healthcare professionals (HCP).

Methods: Web-based cross-sectional surveys were conducted on HCPs engaged in the vaccination, monitoring or counselling about the vaccines.

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Safety notices and registry outlier data measure different aspects of safety and performance of total knee implants: a comparative study of safety notices and register outliers.

Acta Orthop

November 2024

Department of Orthopaedics, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden; Safety & Security Science and Centre for Safety in Healthcare, Delft University of Technology, Delft, the Netherlands.

Background And Purpose:  Safety notices for medical devices such as total knee arthroplasty (TKA) implants may indicate problems in their design or performance that require corrective action to prevent patient harm. Safety notices are often published on national Ministries of Health or regulatory agencies websites. It is unknown whether problems triggering safety notices identify the same implants as those identified by registries as "outlier.

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Limited evidence of infection with other tick-borne pathogens in patients tested for Lyme neuroborreliosis in the Netherlands.

Ticks Tick Borne Dis

November 2024

Amsterdam UMC Multidisciplinary Lyme Borreliosis Center, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Center for Experimental and Molecular Medicine, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Amsterdam Institute for Immunology & Infectious diseases, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Electronic address:

Ixodes ricinus is the main vector of the causative agents of Lyme neuroborreliosis. This tick species can also transmit tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV), spotted fever group (SFG) Rickettsia and Borrelia miyamotoi to humans. These tick-borne pathogens are present in Dutch ticks and have also been associated with human neurological infections, but well characterized disease cases are seldom reported.

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Article Synopsis
  • A study in Romania revealed a growing prevalence of New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase (NDM)-producing Enterobacterales in hospitals, with 355 cases reported from 2018 to 2022.
  • Analysis of 74 isolates over nearly two years identified four persistent multi-hospital clusters of these drug-resistant bacteria, demonstrating sustained transmission across multiple regions.
  • The findings highlight the urgent need for enhanced infection control measures and improved national surveillance for carbapenem-resistant pathogens in healthcare systems across the EU/EEA.
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Article Synopsis
  • * A total of 18 carbapenemase variants were identified, predominantly in ST131 clades A and C, with the most common variants being detected in 14 and 12 countries, respectively.
  • * The rise in isolates carrying these genes since 2021 highlights a significant public health threat posed by the high-risk ST131 lineage.
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  • Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a major cause of heart failure, and this study analyzes genetic factors by examining 14,256 DCM cases and 36,203 participants from the UK Biobank for related traits.
  • Researchers discovered 80 genomic risk loci and pinpointed 62 potential effector genes tied to DCM, including some linked to rare variants.
  • The study uses advanced transcriptomics to explore how cellular functions contribute to DCM, showing that polygenic scores can help predict the disease in the general population and emphasize the importance of genetic testing and development of precise treatments.
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Objective: This study aimed to develop a machine-learning (ML) model to predict the risk for Periodontal Disease (PD) based on nonimage electronic dental records (EDRs).

Methods: By using EDRs collected in the BigMouth repository, dental patients from the US were included. Patients were labeled as cases or controls, based on PD diagnosis, treatment and pocketing.

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Introduction: Risk minimisation measures (RMMs) aim to ensure safe use of medicines, but their implementation in clinical practice is complicated by the diversity of stakeholders whose clinical decision making they seek to inform. Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) are considered integral in clinical decision making.

Objectives: To determine the extent to which RMMs are included in the relevant CPGs and to describe factors that determine RMM inclusion.

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Background: Metabolomic scores based on age (MetaboAge) and mortality (MetaboHealth) are considered indicators of overall health, but their association with cognition in the general population is unknown. Therefore, the association between MetaboAge/MetaboHealth and level and decline in cognition was studied, as were differences between men and women.

Methods: Data of 2821 participants (50% women, age range 45-75) from the Doetinchem Cohort Study was used.

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Background: The minimum mortality temperature (MMT) or MMT percentile (MMTP) is an indicator of population susceptibility to nonoptimum temperatures. MMT and MMTP change over time; however, the changing directions show region-wide heterogeneity. We examined the heterogeneity of temporal changes in MMT and MMTP across multiple communities and in multiple countries.

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Article Synopsis
  • This study examined the prevalence of post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC) symptoms in individuals infected with Delta and Omicron variants, comparing them to a control group over a 12-month period.
  • Participants completed surveys every three months about their symptoms and severity levels for various PASC-associated symptoms, revealing a higher prevalence initially for Delta cases compared to Omicron.
  • PASC prevalence dropped from 34.3% to 21.7% for Delta and from 18.7% to 16.7% for Omicron over the study period, with no significant difference between the two by the end of the 12 months.
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Genome dynamics across the evolutionary transition to endosymbiosis.

Curr Biol

December 2024

Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L59 7ZB, UK. Electronic address:

Article Synopsis
  • Endosymbiosis occurs when a microbe lives within a host, playing a key role in the evolution of complex life forms but its transition processes are not well understood.
  • The study examines the genus Arsenophonus, revealing that strains shifting from horizontal to vertical transmission have larger genomes due to the acquisition of new genetic features and the loss of defense systems against viral attacks.
  • The research suggests that endosymbiosis leads to a mix of genome expansion and eventual reduction as the microbe adapts to its host, enabling rapid genetic innovation before settling into a more stable state.
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In the Netherlands, living in proximity to goat farms has been consistently associated with an increased incidence of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). The cause remains largely unknown though airborne microbial agents could play a role. The aim of this study is to explore micro-organisms present in goats that can cause human pneumonia.

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Background: Nutri-Score is a scientifically validated 5-color front-of-pack nutrition label reflecting the nutrient profile of foods. It has been implemented in several European countries on a voluntary basis, pending the revision of the European labeling regulation. Hence, scientific evidence is needed regarding the ability of the nutrient profile underlying the Nutri-Score (uNS-NPS, 2023-updated version) to characterize healthier foods.

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Article Synopsis
  • A study analyzed the link between different levels of food processing and the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, using data from the EPIC cohort involving nearly 312,000 participants over about 11 years.
  • The results showed that higher intake of ultra-processed foods (UPF) was significantly associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, while unprocessed/minimally processed foods and processed foods were linked to a lower risk.
  • Sub-group analysis revealed specific types of UPF, like certain breads and plant-based alternatives, that, surprisingly, were associated with a reduced risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
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Risk factors for antimicrobial usage and diseases in Dutch veal calf farms: A cross-sectional study.

Vet J

December 2024

Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht University, Yalelaan 2, UT 3584 CM, the Netherlands; National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Centre for Infectious Disease Control, Antonie van Leeuwenhoeklaan 9, Bilthoven 3721 MA, the Netherlands.

Antimicrobial use (AMU) is the main driver of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). In the Netherlands, the veal calf sector was among the largest consumers of antimicrobials in Defined Daily Doses Animal (DDDA) for the year of 2022. As preventive use in Dutch livestock farms is forbidden since 2011, most AMU is due to the herd health status which is affected by the farm environment in which the conditions for diseases to spread are created.

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Development and preliminary assessment of the iFIND TBR: all-in- one molecular diagnostic assay for rapid detection of and rifampicin resistance.

Front Cell Infect Microbiol

November 2024

National Key Laboratory of Intelligent Tracking and Forecasting for Infectious Diseases, National Center for Tuberculosis Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China.

Introduction: Early and accurate diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) is crucial for initiating timely treatment and preventing new infections. In this study, we introduced the iFIND TBR assay, an automated all-in-one tuberculosis detection approach that simultaneously detect (MTB) and rifampicin (RIF) resistance.

Methods: The limits of detection (LOD), sensitivity, specificity, and RIF-R rpoB mutation detection of the iFIND TBR were tested on Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA or sputum samples spiked with known numbers of M.

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Analysis of genotype effects and inter-individual variability in iPSC-derived trisomy 21 neural progenitor cells.

Hum Mol Genet

January 2025

Prenatal Genomics and Therapy Section, Center for Precision Health Research, National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, 35A Convent Drive Bethesda, MD 20892, United States.

Trisomy of human chromosome 21 (T21) gives rise to Down syndrome (DS), the most frequent live-born autosomal aneuploidy. T21 triggers genome-wide transcriptomic alterations that result in multiple atypical phenotypes with highly variable penetrance and expressivity in individuals with DS. Many of these phenotypes, including atypical neurodevelopment, emerge prenatally.

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Environmentally conscious psychopharmacotherapy: Practice recommendations for psychiatrists.

Eur Neuropsychopharmacol

January 2025

Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam University Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; GGZ inGeest Mental Health Care, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Amsterdam Neuroscience (Mood, Anxiety, Psychosis, Stress & Sleep program) and Amsterdam Public Health (Mental Health program) research institutes, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Department of Anatomy & Neurosciences, Amsterdam University Medical Center location Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Article Synopsis
  • There is a lack of comprehensive information on the environmental effects of psychotropic medications, leading to the proposal of Environmentally Conscious Psychopharmacotherapy (ECP), which aims to balance patient needs with environmental concerns.
  • The authors identified actionable steps for reducing the environmental impact of these medications across different sectors, focusing on careful treatment selection, limiting overprescribing, proper medication disposal, and transparent environmental risk reporting.
  • They emphasize that many of these ECP practices not only benefit the environment but also improve outcomes for patients and clinicians, while highlighting the need for further research on the environmental impacts of psychotropic medications.
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Article Synopsis
  • The EU PANDEM-2 project focused on understanding the resource needs during pandemics to better prepare for future outbreaks, specifically examining resource demands during the COVID-19 and H1N1 influenza pandemics.
  • A systematic literature review identified 2754 articles, with 147 ultimately included, that provided data on various healthcare resource parameters like ICU bed usage, PPE needs, and vaccine efficacy from multiple countries.
  • The findings highlighted key differences in resource demands between pandemic influenza and COVID-19, improving the overall accuracy of models used for decision-making in public health responses.
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We estimated XBB.1.5 vaccine effectiveness (VE) against symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection among adults aged ≥ 65 years during the 2023/2024 JN.

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