The 37 key diseases in Belgium led to a loss of 2.3 million healthy life years in 2018. These healthy life years were lost because people had to live with an illness or disability or because people died prematurely as a result of illness. This is shown in Sciensano’s first national burden of disease study.
Healthcare providers and caregivers still experience symptoms of chronic stress to a large to very large extend after 20 months of the corona crisis. This persistent stress has a negative impact on their well-being. 28% of the participants are considering quitting their profession. The need for support remains high. These are the results of the fourth national ‘POWER TO CARE’ survey by Sciensano and KU Leuven, in which 786 healthcare professionals participated.
The COVID-19 surveillance continues during the Armistice weekend. Exceptionally, however, there will be no epidemiological report on Friday 12 and Tuesday 16 November.
On the 14th of June 2021, a strategic cooperation agreement will be signed by Sciensano and all Belgian universities, represented by the Flemish Interuniversity Council (VLIR) and the Conseil des recteurs (CRef). Long-time collaborators for years, the undersigning partners reinforce their commitment to work together closely and to strengthen their partnership, in order to contribute to a healthier society through state-of-the-art research.
Today, Sciensano launches the 7th COVID-19 health survey. It addresses different aspects of our physical, mental and social well-being. The previous COVID-19 health surveys had between 20,000 and 40,000 participants! Once again, we count on your participation.
Healthcare providers and caregivers still experience symptoms of chronic stress to a large to very large extend after one year of the corona crisis. This persistent stress has a negative impact on their well-being and could also have a negative impact on the quality of the provided care. 19% of the participants are considering quitting their profession. The need for support remains high. These are the results of the second national ‘POWER TO CARE’ survey by Sciensano and KU Leuven, in which 2,530 healthcare professionals and informal carers participated.
Leptospirosis is a bacterial disease that affects both humans and animals, with a wide variety of symptoms, from mild illness to serious and sometimes fatal disease. This zoonotic disease (transmitted from animals to humans) occurs worldwide and is a problem of human and veterinary public health.
You are kindly invited to the online meeting of the European Leptospirosis Society, which will take place on May 6th, 2021.
From December 2020 to Januari 2021, 12.4% of the pupils and 14.8% of the school staff in primary school and in the first grade of secondary education in Belgium had antibodies against the coronavirus. These results are comparable to the findings in the general population. This is shown in a study by Sciensano in collaboration with the Catholic University of Leuven. The study lasts until the end of the school year and follows the evolution of the number of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in pupils and school staff.
Due to the current epidemiological situation, the Hospital & Transport Surge Capacity committee has asked hospitals to report their numbers to Sciensano again on a daily basis, including weekends. As a result, all COVID-19 figures will be updated daily on the Epistat dashboard and in the open datasets. A daily report will appear every day.
The “Hospital & Transport Surge Capacity” committee has decided that as from Saturday 20 March 2021, hospitals will no longer have to send their COVID-19 surveillance data to Sciensano on Saturdays, to reduce their workload. They can postpone reporting the data from Saturday to Sunday (in 2 separate registrations for Saturday and Sunday). As a consequence, the COVID-19 figures will not be updated on Sundays anymore.
