News | RIVM

COVID-19 vaccination: invitations being sent to risk groups

From 27 August 2024 on, the first people will receive an invitation for COVID-19 vaccination. RIVM will send the invitations to people aged 60 years and older.

Fewer whooping cough antibodies if vaccination occurs before 24th week of pregnancy

Babies develop fewer antibodies against pertussis (whooping cough) if the mother is given the pertussis vaccine before the 24th week of pregnancy. These findings are from a multi-year study carried out by RIVM among preterm and full-term babies and their mothers.

Expected peak in tick bite season

RIVM and Wageningen University researchers expect the tick bite season to reach its peak in the next few weeks. The peak will coincide with the start of the summer holidays.

New COVID-19 vaccination round for risk groups this autumn

The new COVID-19 vaccination round will start on 16 September 2024. For people who are at higher risk, the COVID-19 vaccination offers more effective protection against hospital admission or death due to COVID-19.

New Stookwijzer criteria based on nuisance

RIVM has reviewed the criteria of the Stookwijzer. Based on these new insights, RIVM recommends that households do not light wood fires in winds of 2 or less on the Beaufort scale. In such circumstances, the Stookwijzer will issue a code red.

RIVM: be cautious when using nutritional supplements containing Mucuna pruriens

Herbal preparations that contain Mucuna pruriens seeds are sold online in the Netherlands. RIVM has examined whether these preparations are harmful to health. Very little scientific information about Mucuna pruriens is publicly available.

MEBI: risk of serious health complaints from Rebound HRD® inguinal hernia mesh

The Dutch Reporting Centre for Adverse Effects of Medical Implants (MEBI), which is part of RIVM, has received a report about Rebound HRD® (Hernia Repair Device), an inguinal hernia mesh.

Vaccination coverage of babies and toddlers remained about the same, but decreased among older children

The percentage of babies and toddlers that were vaccinated in the framework of the National Immunisation Programme remained about the same compared to last year. In children aged 9 years and older, vaccination coverage continued to decrease for most of the national childhood immunisations.

Almost half of participants lost at least 5% of their weight after completing the CLI

The percentage of participants (47%) that lost at least 5% of their weight was higher at the end of the entire CLI programme than in the first phase. This is shown by the latest RIVM report on the Combined Lifestyle Intervention (CLI).

Weather conditions led to better air quality in 2023

The air quality in 2023 was better than in 2022, mainly due to the weather conditions. This is according to the large-scale concentration (GCN) maps RIVM creates each year of air pollution in the Netherlands.