The number of tests performed during the COVID-19 epidepic increases every day. Sciensano has decided to join forces with other laboratories in Belgium. The greater the national diagnostic capacity, the better the evolution of the epidemic will be understood and the faster each patients will get their test results.
On April 1 2020, Sciensano made the data collected on the Covid-19 epidemic accessible to everyone. All data can be consulted via the dynamic dashboard on the Epistat-website.
The study examines to what extent healthcare workers in hospitals come into contact with COVID-19. To this end the scientists will monitor 850 health workers who are representative of the health corps involved over a five-month period.
The study aims to provide answers to the following questions:
The outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in Belgium has shaken up our daily lives. Sciensano is launching the COVID-19 health interview survey to assess the impact of the crisis on our health, our use of health services and our health related behaviors.
Sciensano’s ‘Chemical and Physical Health Risks’ department is one of the main partners of the EU-funded ESFRI project METROFOOD to establish a new European Research Infrastructure (RI) aiming to increase efficiency in food quality and safety research by providing and coordinating high level metrological services on a European scale.
A pioneering project, PMOLLUGENIX, funded by the Belgian Science Policy Office (BELSPO), has been conducted during 2 years. This project, coordinated by Sciensano and in collaboration with the Catholic University of Louvain, the University of Hasselt and the Vlaamse Milieumaatschappij, aimed to evaluate the feasibility of measuring the effects of air pollution on the respiratory health of children in future large scale studies. A workshop, gathering all project partners and stakeholders in the field, took place on the 8th of November, as part of the closure of the project.
From Monday 16 to Wednesday 18 September, IMEKOFOODS4 took place, the 4th ‘International conference for Metrology in Food and Nutrition’ at the satellite location of Sciensano in Tervuren. 100 international scientists attended this 3 day event.
Sciensano acquired a BELAC accreditation in July 2019 to use Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) that allows whole genome sequencing (WGS). This ambitious technique is the new reference established by international specialists. It brings up new research perspectives in the genomic field for Sciensano.
If we lived in a world free of tobacco, the life expectancy of Belgian would increase by 2 years. This appears from a new study by Sciensano, the Belgian institute for health. Despite the continuing decline in the number of smokers, tobacco use remains one of the greatest risk factors for our health.
