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Exploring grants & actions for advancing laborabory and digital capacities for health emergency preparedness and response: be.Prepared
No full textGlobal initiatives have intensified efforts to strengthen national infrastructures for whole genome sequencing (WGS) of pathogens in response to the urgent needs of the COVID-19 pandemic. This pivotal experience underscores the need for a versatile infrastructure, adaptable to different pathogens and surveillance systems, highlighting the crucial integration of genomic, clinical, and epidemiological data.
The Belgian Preparedness Architecture for Infectious Diseases, be.Prepared, developed within the HERA-Incubator-WGS and HERA-BE-WGS projects and funded by the European Union, is a model of innovation. It seamlessly integrates and links pathogen and health data using a variety of state-of-the-art platforms, including a dynamic platform for data linkage and a central cloud-based bioinformatics platform.</p
be.Prepared: Transition to timely genomic resistance surveillance
No full textIn recent years, there has been a major global push to improve whole genome sequencing (WGS) infrastructure in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. SARS-CoV-2 WGS has proven to be highly valuable for public health, helping to identify mutations, track new variants, and support vaccine development. Building on this experience, there is now a clear need for a flexible system that can be used to monitor a wide range of pathogens when needed for public health. A key step in improving infectious disease surveillance is connecting and combining different types of data—such as genomic, clinical, and epidemiological information—to get a more complete picture and respond more effectively to future health threats.</p
Fall risk factors and prevention among older adults in primary care in Belgium, 2019-2021
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Quality Control and Safety Assessment of Online-Purchased Food Supplements Containing Red Yeast Rice (RYR)
No full textUrban green space, human heat perception and sleep quality: A repeated cross-sectional study.
No full textUrban heat poses significant challenges to public health, as exposure to high temperatures is associated to heat stress, resulting in heat strain, sleep deprivation, and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. As the frequency of heat waves is increasing due to global warming, urban green spaces are often proposed as a nature-based solution to mitigate urban heat stress. This study investigated the impact of urban green space on perceived heat stress and sleep quality, using questionnaires and detailed land cover data. We surveyed 584 respondents during four heat and four control events in the summers of 2021 and 2022, assessing perceived heat stress, sleep quality, and mental health. Using structural equation models, this study analysed the influence of both tree cover and grass and shrub cover on perceived heat stress and sleep quality, while controlling for risk and vulnerability factors. The outcomes revealed that during heat events, enhanced tree cover was associated with reduced heat stress (B = -0.484, 95% CI [-0.693, -0.275], p = 0.001), while increased grass and shrub cover was associated with both reduced heat stress (B = -0.361 [-0.529, -0.193], p = 0.000) and improved sleep quality (B = -0. 241 [-0.399, -0.083], p = 0.003). Conversely, during control events, stress indicators were more strongly associated with individual vulnerability factors rather than surrounding green space. These results emphasize the importance of combining trees with lower vegetation in urban planning to mitigate heat-related stress and enhance sleep quality, thereby improving overall well-being during heat events.</p
Associations of heat with diseases and specific symptoms in Flanders, Belgium: An 8-year retrospective study of general practitioner registration data.
No full textINTRODUCTION: Global temperature rise has become a major health concern. Most previous studies on the impact of heat on morbidity have used hospital data.
OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to quantify the association between ambient temperature and a variety of potentially heat-related medical conditions and symptoms using general practitioner (GP) data, in Flanders, Belgium.
METHODS: We used eight years (2012-2019) of aggregated data of daily GP visits during the Belgian summer period (May-September). A distributed lag nonlinear model (DLNM) with time-stratified conditional quasi-Poisson regression was used to account for the non-linear and delayed effect of temperature indicators (minimum, mean and maximum). We controlled for potential confounders such as particulate matter, humidity, and ozone.
RESULTS: The overall (lag0-14) association between heat and most of the outcomes was J-shaped, with an increased risk of disease observed at higher temperatures. The associations were more pronounced using the minimum temperatures indicator. Comparing the 99th (20 °C) to the minimum morbidity temperature (MMT) of the minimum temperature distribution during summer, the relative risk (RR) was significantly higher for heat-related general symptoms (RR = 1.30 [95 % CI: 1.07, 1.57]), otitis externa (RR = 4.87 [95 % CI:2.98, 7.98]), general heart problems (RR = 2.43 [95 % CI: 1.33, 4.42]), venous problems (RR = 2.48 [95 % CI:1.55, 3.96]), respiratory complaints (RR = 1.97 [95 % CI: 1.25, 3.09]), skin problems (RR = 3.26 [95 % CI: 2.51, 4.25]), and urinary infections (RR = 1.37 [95 % CI: 1.11, 1.69]). However, we did not find evidence for heat-related increases in gastrointestinal problems, cerebrovascular events, cardiovascular events, arrhythmia, mental health problems, upper respiratory problems and lower respiratory problems. An increased risk of allergy was observed when the minimum temperature reached 17.8 °C (RR = 1.50 [95 % CI: 1.23, 1.83]). Acute effects of heat were observed (largest effects at the first few lags).
SUMMARY: Our findings indicated that the occurrence of certain symptoms and illnesses during summer season is associated to high temperature or environmental exposures that are augmented by elevated temperatures. Overall, unlike hospitalization data, GP visits data provide broader population coverage, revealing a more accurate representation of heat-health association.</p
