Tuesday 18 November is European Antibiotic Awareness Day. On this day, throughout Europe, attention is focused on the responsible use of antibiotics for people and animals.

In recent years the Netherlands has witnessed an increase in the number of cases of gastroenteritis caused by the Campylobacter bacterium.

After continuing to rise for many years, in 2013 the prevalence of resistance to antibiotics levelled out somewhat in both hospitals and primary care.

On 25 and 26 June, an international conference about resistance to antibiotics - an increasing worldwide problem - will take place in The Hague.

At the request of State Secretary Martin van Rijn (VWS), RIVM is carrying out an investigation into the safety of e-cigarettes.

Safety of nicotine-containing electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) cannot be confirmed because of the limited amount of published research in this area.

Bacteria that are resistant to almost all antibiotics continue to spread across Europe. This was revealed by new figures from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

RIVM 'Young Researchers' present their PhD research in 4 short films which were made especially to highlight and explain their scientific research.