vaccination

Starting this coming weekend, all Dutch teenagers will receive an invitation to get a vaccination against Meningococcus in the year that they turn 14 years old. The reason for this is an increase in type W of the bacteria, which can also be dangerous to teenagers and young people, unlike the other types which are mainly dangerous to young children, RTL Nieuws reports.

Dutch doctors are drawing attention to the importance of vaccinating your children on social media. With the hashtag #ikvaccineer - I vaccinate in English - they are saying that their kids are vaccinated, with the reasons why.

The Netherlands is heading for a record number of infections with the meningococcal  bacterium type W, also known as meningitis. So far this year 57 people ended up in intensive care and 11 people died because of this bacterium, according to figures AD received from the national institute for public health RIVM. 

A majority in parliament thinks that parents have the right to know if their kids are attending daycare with children and babies that haven't been vaccinated. Then parens can decide whether they want to take the risk of infectious disease or move theri child elsewhere, AD reports.

The PvdA, CDA, D66, GroenLinks and PVV all voted in favor of this proposal. They are concerned because fewer people are vaccinating their children.

A total of 450 pupils and staff members at a primary school in Amsterdam-Noord will be vaccinated on Thursday after four children at the school were diagnosed with hepatitis A, NOS reports.

It seems that one of the kids contracted the virus during the holidays. The contagious infectious disease then spread through the Buikslotermeer School in Amsterdam-Noord. Parents of pupils were informed about the situation on Tuesday.

The Health Council advised Minister Edith Schippers of Public Health to have pregnant women vaccinated against pertussis in their last trimester so that their babies are protected against the disease

Ab Osterhaus, a virologist at the Erasmus University, wants the Health Council to consider also vaccinating boys against the human papilloma virus (HPV), BNR reports.

Twenty of the 600 thousand children who were vaccinated against swine flu in 2009, have contracted the severe sleeping sickness narcolepsy. This is evident from reports received by the side effects center Lareb.

The call from parents' organizations to ban unvaccinated children from daycare has been rebuffed by ministers as there is no judicial ground for this to be possible. According to childcare laws, this is not allowed.

Two puppies, imported from Bulgaria, had rabies. The dogs were euthanized last weekend, reported the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) Tuesday.

At least 1458 people contracted the measles or still have it, reports the RIVM (Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu) (National Institute for Public Health and Environment) Thursday. Since last week 110 new cases have been reported, more than twice as many as the week before.