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Relative vaccine effectiveness against COVID-19 hospitalisation in persons aged ≥ 65 years: results from a VEBIS network, Europe, October 2021 to July 2023.
No full textTo monitor relative vaccine effectiveness (rVE) against COVID-19-related hospitalisation of the first, second and third COVID-19 booster (vs complete primary vaccination), we performed monthly Cox regression models using retrospective cohorts constructed from electronic health registries in eight European countries, October 2021-July 2023. Within 12 weeks of administration, each booster showed high rVE (≥ 70% for second and third boosters). However, as of July 2023, most of the relative benefit has waned, particularly in persons ≥ 80-years-old, while some protection remained in 65-79-year-olds.</p
Analyzing the airborne birch and grass pollen monitoring network in Belgium
No full textBackground
In Belgium, ~10% of people are sensitive to birch pollen and ~15% to grass pollen, significantly affecting their quality of life. Mitigation measures can alleviate pollen-induced symptoms, but these require early warning systems providing timely information on forthcoming pollen episodes. The performance of such systems can be enhanced by assimilating pollen observations from strategically well-placed monitoring stations. Before assimilating observations into forecasting models, the network quality and coverage of pollen monitoring stations must be evaluated.
Materials & Methods
We explored the network quality (i) and coverage (ii) of the five current pollen monitoring stations in Belgium using the methodology developed by Sofiev et al. (STOTEN, 2023).
1. Network Quality (i): Daily observations of grass and birch pollen were spatially interpolated using radial-based functions applied to the five monitoring sites in Belgium. The interpolated values were compared to a reference dataset containing spatio-temporal distributions of daily surface airborne birch and grass pollen levels from the SILAM model (System for Integrated modeLling of Atmospheric coMposition), as implemented in the operational early warning system of the Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium. The Root-Mean-Square-Error (RMSE) quantified the network’s ability to reproduce the concentration field over the region of interest.
2. Network Coverage (ii): A footprint-based analysis was performed at each monitoring station by running SILAM in backward mode (three days), determining the trajectory of birch and grass pollen observed at the network stations. Nine pollen seasons (2013–2021) were analyzed using ECMWF ERA5 meteorology.
Results
The network performs well with respect to the spatio-temporal reference dataset for birch pollen derived from SILAM. Over 78% of daily RMSE values for birch pollen are below their mean value, with more than 99% achieved during the 2015 season but only ~44% for 2020. For grass pollen, the network quality is 80%, with values ranging between 63% (2021) and 97% (2017).
The footprint analysis shows that the average coverage of monitoring stations for birch pollen is good, although large differences exist across the 2013–2021 seasons, likely due to significant inter-seasonal variations in birch pollen production. For grass pollen, the average coverage is better, with lower inter-seasonal variation.
Conclusions
Initial results indicate that the monitoring network for airborne birch and grass pollen in Belgium is of good quality and sufficient coverage. However, the performance varies with the applied time scale. At smaller time scales (e.g., days or hours), network configurations degrade faster compared to larger time steps (e.g., weeks, months, or seasons).</p
EU Call - Subtopic C - Health promotion and prevention of noncommunicable and communicable Action Grant (DPCR-g-24-29)
No full textOne Pager
For evaluating the relevance and feasibility of belgian participation in EU calls</p
Wetenschappelijke richtlijn: Ter ondersteuning van de invoering van de HPV-test voor screening naar baarmoederhalkanker in België
No full textIn België werd in 2022 bij 641 vrouwen de diagnose van invasieve baarmoederhalskanker gesteld (1) en stierven 231 vrouwen ten gevolge van baarmoederhalskanker (2).
Baarmoederhalskanker wordt in de meeste gevallen veroorzaakt door het humaan papillomavirus (HPV), dat voornamelijk overgedragen wordt door seksueel contact. Er zijn meer dan 150 types HPV, waarvan er een twaalftal baarmoederhalskanker kunnen veroorzaken en daarom als hoogrisicotypes worden bestempeld. Hoogrisico-HPV-types (hrHPV’s) kunnen opgespoord worden met DNA- of RNA-gebaseerde HPV-testen. De screening naar baarmoederhalskanker in België werd tot eind 2024 uitgevoerd door middel van een 3-jaarlijks cytologisch onderzoek van een baarmoederhalsuitstrijkje. De HPV-test werd slechts terugbetaald na een afwijkend cytologieresultaat.
In december 2022 besliste de Interministeriële Conferentie (IMC) Volksgezondheid (in lijn met eerdere beslissingen van de IMC tijdens de vorige regeerperiode) om over te schakelen van cytologie naar primaire HPV-screening voor baarmoederhalskanker (vanaf de leeftijd van 30 jaar) (3). Deze beslissing is gebaseerd op beschikbare wetenschappelijke evidentie, gaande van het KCE-rapport 238 uit 2015 (4) tot zeer recente analyses van de Wereldgezondheidsorganisatie (WGO) (5, 6) en het Internationaal Agentschap voor Kankeronderzoek (IARC) (7).
Bovendien worden adolescenten (meisjes en jongens) gevaccineerd tegen het humaan papillomavirus via vaccinatieprogramma’s georganiseerd door de deelstaten. HPV-vaccins worden ook terugbetaald door het RIZIV voor inhaalvaccinatie van jongeren tot de leeftijd van 19 jaar.</p
Belgian contribution to Orphanet, the international reference portal on rare diseases and orphan drugs
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Prevalence of Healthcare-Associated Infections in Belgian Acute Care Hospitals in 2022 : Results of ECDC Point Prevalence Survey
No full textBackground: Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) contribute to prolonged hospital stays and increased costs, along with elevated morbidity and mortality rates. The 2017 European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) point prevalence survey (PPS) reported a 5.9% HAI prevalence in European acute care hospitals, with Belgium showing a higher rate at 7.3%. In 2022, the ECDC PPS was repeated in Belgian acute care hospitals.
Methods: Data collection was performed from September to November 2022, following the ECDC protocol (version 6.0) at hospital/ward/patient level. All patients present in the surveyed wards at 8 a.m. on the PPS day and not discharged at that time, were included. Modifications from the 2017 protocol included the incorporation of infection definitions and microorganism codes for COVID-19, along with the inclusion of HAIs associated to long-term care facilities.
Findings: In total, 56 acute care hospital sites (35 mergers, of which 25 primary, 7 secondary and 3 tertiary hospitals, countrywide participation 33.9%) participated, encompassing 10,142 patients. Overall, 9.2% (95%CI: 8.7-9.8) of patients had at least one HAI. Predominant infections included pneumonia and lower respiratory tract infections (32.8%, including COVID-19 infections at 8.5%), surgical site infections (13.6%), urinary tract infections (18.5%), followed by bloodstream infections and gastro-intestinal infections (12.2% and 9.0%, respectively). A positive microbiological result was reported for 65.6% of HAIs (N = 675/1029), with Escherichia coli (16.8%), Staphylococcus aureus (10.8%), and Klebsiella spp. (10.2%) being the most common isolates. SARS-CoV-2 accounted for 7.9% of isolated microorganisms.
Conclusion: This PPS provided valuable insight on the prevalence of HAIs and associated factors. The increased prevalence of HAIs revealed in 2022 highlights the need for continuous improvement in infection prevention and control measures.</p