News – SIMID

EpiMob2025 opens with keynote by Andrea Torneri

Jun 03, 2025

The fifth edition of EpiMob2025 took opened today in Maastricht with an engaging keynote by Andrea Torneri. His talk, "On the influence of transmission modes in the spread of mpox and respiratory infections," laid the foundation for a day dedicated to behavioral data and epidemic dynamics.Torneri emphasized the role of…

Corona, COVID-19, Publications

Weighing the odds: A new toolkit helps assess COVID-19 vaccine benefits vs risks | NEW PAPER

May 04, 2025

The rapid rollout of COVID-19 vaccines was essential, but questions and concerns arose about rare side effects, such as thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) linked to the Vaxzevria (AstraZeneca) vaccine. Assessing whether the benefits of vaccination still outweigh these potential risks is complex. In our latest work published in The…

Publications

What antibody levels can – and can’t – tell us about immunity | NEW PAPER

Apr 07, 2025

Not all immune responses leave the same mark. In our latest work, we present a new model to better understand how antibody levels change over time and what this can tell us about past infections. Most public health analyses flatten questions of immunity into a binary: you’re either immune or…

COVID-19, Publications

Reimagining pandemic preparedness: Clustering pathogens by risk | NEW PREPRINT

Apr 03, 2025

Historically, pandemic preparedness has relied on outbreak lists that catalog viruses based on past epidemics and use that information to guide future response plans. While this approach has its merits, it is inherently reactive, designed to fight yesterday's pandemic rather than tomorrow's threat. In our new study, posted on the…

COVID-19, Outreach

What if the pandemic had been handled differently?

Mar 13, 2025

Niel Hens reflects in an interview on ‘De Ochtend’ (Radio 1) Five years ago, Belgium was on the verge of its first COVID-19 lockdown. This morning on Radio 1, Niel Hens, looked back on those crucial early weeks and discussed new insights from recent studies. In the interview, Hens highlighted…

COVID-19

Are we ready for the next pandemic?

Feb 25, 2025

Newspaper De Standaard reports on most important lessons learned, five year since the start of the pandemic.Five years after the COVID-19 pandemic shook the world, experts now worry about a new potential threat: bird flu. As the virus continues to spread among mammals, the question arises—are we better prepared than…

COVID-19

Code orange: infectious diseases on the rise

Jan 13, 2025

The Risk Management Group (RMG) has elevated the warning level for respiratory infections to code orange, signaling a significant need for increased vigilance as symptoms surge across communities. What does code orange mean? This heightened warning comes with clear recommendations aimed at curbing the spread of respiratory infections: Mask up:…

COVID-19, Publications

The influence of age-specific behaviors on COVID-19 spread and control efforts | NEW PAPER

Dec 29, 2024

Our latest study examines how different age groups shaped the spread of COVID-19 through differences in susceptibility, infectivity, and social interactions. With our new model, we can measure each group’s role in the spread of disease and evaluate the comparative advantage of distinct public health interventions. We modeled the early…

COVID-19, Publications

Tracking the emerging dynamics and risks of H5N1 flu | NEW PREPRINT

Dec 17, 2024

The ongoing spread of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A (H5N1) among dairy cattle in the US and the subsequent growing number of human cases makes it crucial to understand how this virus spreads and behaves. Our latest research, posted on the preprint server medRxiv, focuses on identifying key epidemiological parameters…

COVID-19, Publications

The enduring influence of vaccine hesitancy | NEW PAPER

Nov 14, 2024

The longer someone delays getting vaccinated, the less likely they are to get vaccinated at all. In our new study, we explore how this long-lasting vaccine hesitancy can impact how an epidemic unfolds. Using data from the COVID-19 vaccination campaign in Portugal, we analysed vaccination waiting times (i.e. time between…

Category: News