Christel Faes
Biographic Data
| ID | 6776382 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Christel Faes |
| GIVEN NAMES | Christel |
| FAMILY NAME | Faes |
| SIGNATURE | FAES C |
| AFFILIATIONS | Hasselt University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-1878-9869 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 22 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 0 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 22 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2010 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 0 |
Socioeconomic Variability of Covid-19 Vaccine Attrition
Background/Objectives: The success of COVID-19 vaccination campaigns depends not just on initial uptake but also on completion of recommended doses. However, vaccine attrition-the failure to complete full vaccination schedules-remains understudied, particularly how socioeconomic factors influence this phenomenon. This study examines the regional patterns of vaccine attrition in Catalonia during 2021-2022, focusing on how income inequality, and ur…
Capturing the spatiotemporal spread of Covid-19 in 30 European countries during 2020 – 2022
Our study highlighted the benefit of the endemic-epidemic framework to elucidate the COVID-19 disease spread over a large spatial and temporal scale, using a wide range of epidemiological information. Insights derived from this study are beneficial for those interested in seeking an overview of the emergency phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in the EU/EEA region
Translating the Covid-19 epidemiological situation into policies and measures
The COVID-19 pandemic led to sustained surveillance efforts, which made unprecedented volumes and types of data available. In Belgium, these data were used to conduct a targeted and regular assessment of the epidemiological situation. In addition, management tools were developed, incorporating key indicators and thresholds, to define risk levels and offer guidance to policy makers. Categorizing risk into various levels provided a stable framework…
Unraveling the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the mortality trends in Belgium between 2020–2022
Despite a consistent decline in COVID-19 reported mortality over this three-year period, it remains imperative to meticulously monitor mortality trends in the years ahead
Trends in socioeconomic inequalities in cause-specific premature mortality in Belgium, 1998–2019
Premature mortality rates have declined over time, but inequality has increased due to a faster pace of decrease in the least deprived areas compared to the most deprived areas. As the causes of death related to poor lifestyle choices contribute the most to the inequality gap, more effective, country-level interventions should be put in place to target segments of the population living in the most deprived areas as they are facing disproportionat…
The impact of quality-adjusted life years on evaluating Covid-19 mitigation strategies
When calculating the impact of measures to mitigate disease spread in terms of life years lost due to COVID-19 mortality, we highlight the impact of COVID-19 on the health-related quality of life of survivors. Our study underscores that disease-related morbidity could constitute a significant part of the overall health burden. Our quantitative findings depend on the specific setup of the interventions under review, which is open to debate or shou…
Cluster pattern analysis of environmental stressors and quantifying their impact on all-cause mortality in Belgium
Environmental stress represents an important burden on health and leads to a considerable number of diseases, hospitalisations, and excess mortality. Our study encompasses a representative sample size drawn from the Belgian population in 2016 (n = 11.26 million, with a focus on n = 11.15 million individuals). The analysis is conducted at the geographical level of statistical sectors, comprising a total of n = 19,794 sectors, with a subset of n = …
Key risk factors associated with fractal dimension based geographical clustering of Covid-19 data in the Flemish and Brussels region, Belgium
Introduction: COVID-19 remains a major concern globally. Therefore, it is important to evaluate COVID-19's rapidly changing trends. The fractal dimension has been proposed as a viable method to characterize COVID-19 curves since epidemic data is often subject to considerable heterogeneity. In this study, we aim to investigate the association between various socio-demographic factors and the complexity of the COVID-19 curve as quantified through i…
Spatio-Temporal Bayesian Models for Malaria Risk Using Survey and Health Facility Routine Data in Rwanda
The findings of this analysis suggest that using DHS combined with routine health services data for active malaria surveillance may provide provide more precise estimates of the malaria burden, which can be used toward malaria elimination targets. We compared findings from geostatistical modeling of malaria prevalence among under-five-year old children using DHS 2019-2020 and findings from malaria relative risk spatio-temporal modeling using both…
Spatio-temporal dynamic of the Covid-19 epidemic and the impact of imported cases in Rwanda
The study recommends using evidence-based decisions in the management of epidemics and integrating statistical models in the analytics component of the health information system
The influence of Covid-19 risk perception and vaccination status on the number of social contacts across Europe
Our multi-country study yields significant insights on the importance of risk perceptions and vaccination in behavioral changes during a pandemic emergency. The apparent increase in social contact behaviour following vaccination would require urgent intervention in the event of emergence of an immune escaping variant
Longitudinal social contact data analysis
CoMix data highlights the variability of contact patterns across age groups and time, revealing the mechanisms governing the spread/transmission of COVID-19/airborne diseases in the population. Although such longitudinal contact surveys are prone to the under-reporting due to participant fatigue and drop-out, we showed that these factors can be identified and corrected using NBI GAMLSS. This information can be used to improve the design of simila…
Effectiveness of contact tracing for Covid-19 in Belgium
Contact tracing and investigation can prevent infectious disease transmission when carried out promptly. Data obtained from contact tracing also provides unique information on transmission dynamics that can be useful for policy making. The proportion of secondary infections arising from index cases that were previously identified as a close contact, hence “known index cases”, has been indicated by ECDC as a key performance indicator for contact t…
The Effects of Heatwaves on Human Morbidity in Primary Care Settings
Heatwaves are associated with increased heat-related morbidities and decreased respiratory infection risk. The study of heatwaves' effects in primary care settings helps evaluate the impact of heatwaves on the general population. Primary care settings might be not suitable to study acute life-threatening morbidities
Variation in smoking attributable all-cause mortality across municipalities in Belgium, 2018
Within-country variation in smoking and smoking attributable mortality was observed. Computed estimates should inform local public health prevention campaigns as well as contribute to explaining the regional differences in mortality
Past, present, and future trends of overweight and obesity in Belgium using Bayesian age-period-cohort models
Our projections show that the WHO target to halt obesity by 2025 will most likely not be achieved. There is an urgent necessity for policy makers to implement effective prevent policies and other strategies in people who are at risk for developing overweight and/or obesity
Inequalities in mortality associated with housing conditions in Belgium between 1991 and 2020
Thousands of deaths in Belgium could be avoided if all Belgian neighborhoods had the mortality rates of the least deprived areas in terms of housing. Hotspots of housing inequalities need to be located and targeted with tailored public actions
The secondary transmission pattern of Covid-19 based on contact tracing in Rwanda
INTRODUCTION: COVID-19 has shown an exceptionally high spread rate across and within countries worldwide. Understanding the dynamics of such an infectious disease transmission is critical for devising strategies to control its spread. In particular, Rwanda was one of the African countries that started COVID-19 preparedness early in January 2020, and a total lockdown was imposed when the country had only 18 COVID-19 confirmed cases known. Using in…
Spatial Modelling to Inform Public Health Based on Health Surveys
Small area estimation is an important tool to provide area-specific estimates of population characteristics for governmental organizations in the context of education, public health and care. However, many demographic and health surveys are unrepresentative at a small geographical level, as often areas at a lower level are not included in the sample due to financial or logistical reasons. In this paper, we investigated (1) the effect of these uns…
Time between Symptom Onset, Hospitalisation and Recovery or Death
There are different patterns in the COVID-19 outbreak in the general population and amongst nursing home patients. We investigate the time from symptom onset to diagnosis and hospitalization or the length of stay (LoS) in the hospital, and whether there are differences in the population. Sciensano collected information on 14,618 hospitalized patients with COVID-19 admissions from 114 Belgian hospitals between 14 March and 12 June 2020. The distri…
Spatial Distribution of HIV Prevalence among Young People in Mozambique
Mozambique has a high burden of HIV and is currently ranked sixth worldwide for adult prevalence. In Mozambique, HIV prevalence is not uniformly distributed geographically and throughout the population. We investigated the spatial distribution of HIV infection among adolescents and young people in Mozambique using the 2009 AIDS Indicator Survey (AIS). Generalized geoadditive modeling, combining kriging and additive modeling, was used to study the…
‘Vrijers die van verre komen, zijn te schromen’ - Geografische homogamie van huwelijkspartners, 1812-1922
Geographical homogamy of spouses married in the Netherlands in the period 1812-1922 .People tend to choose a partner originating from their own region. However, in the course of time the geographical horizon widened. The mean geographical distance between the regions of origin of spouses in the Netherlands strongly increased during the nineteenth and twentieth century, particularly from the 1880s onwards. Also regional differences can be observed…
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‘Vrijers die van verre komen, zijn te schromen’ - Geografische homogamie van huwelijkspartners, 1812-1922
Geographical homogamy of spouses married in the Netherlands in the period 1812-1922 .People tend to choose a partner originating from their own region. However, in the course of time the geographical horizon widened. The mean geographical distance between the regions of origin of spouses in the Netherlands strongly increased during the nineteenth and twentieth century, particularly from the 1880s onwards. Also regional differences can be observed…
Spatial Modelling to Inform Public Health Based on Health Surveys
Small area estimation is an important tool to provide area-specific estimates of population characteristics for governmental organizations in the context of education, public health and care. However, many demographic and health surveys are unrepresentative at a small geographical level, as often areas at a lower level are not included in the sample due to financial or logistical reasons. In this paper, we investigated (1) the effect of these uns…
Time between Symptom Onset, Hospitalisation and Recovery or Death
There are different patterns in the COVID-19 outbreak in the general population and amongst nursing home patients. We investigate the time from symptom onset to diagnosis and hospitalization or the length of stay (LoS) in the hospital, and whether there are differences in the population. Sciensano collected information on 14,618 hospitalized patients with COVID-19 admissions from 114 Belgian hospitals between 14 March and 12 June 2020. The distri…
Spatial Distribution of HIV Prevalence among Young People in Mozambique
Mozambique has a high burden of HIV and is currently ranked sixth worldwide for adult prevalence. In Mozambique, HIV prevalence is not uniformly distributed geographically and throughout the population. We investigated the spatial distribution of HIV infection among adolescents and young people in Mozambique using the 2009 AIDS Indicator Survey (AIS). Generalized geoadditive modeling, combining kriging and additive modeling, was used to study the…
The secondary transmission pattern of Covid-19 based on contact tracing in Rwanda
INTRODUCTION: COVID-19 has shown an exceptionally high spread rate across and within countries worldwide. Understanding the dynamics of such an infectious disease transmission is critical for devising strategies to control its spread. In particular, Rwanda was one of the African countries that started COVID-19 preparedness early in January 2020, and a total lockdown was imposed when the country had only 18 COVID-19 confirmed cases known. Using in…
The Effects of Heatwaves on Human Morbidity in Primary Care Settings
Heatwaves are associated with increased heat-related morbidities and decreased respiratory infection risk. The study of heatwaves' effects in primary care settings helps evaluate the impact of heatwaves on the general population. Primary care settings might be not suitable to study acute life-threatening morbidities
Variation in smoking attributable all-cause mortality across municipalities in Belgium, 2018
Within-country variation in smoking and smoking attributable mortality was observed. Computed estimates should inform local public health prevention campaigns as well as contribute to explaining the regional differences in mortality
Past, present, and future trends of overweight and obesity in Belgium using Bayesian age-period-cohort models
Our projections show that the WHO target to halt obesity by 2025 will most likely not be achieved. There is an urgent necessity for policy makers to implement effective prevent policies and other strategies in people who are at risk for developing overweight and/or obesity
Inequalities in mortality associated with housing conditions in Belgium between 1991 and 2020
Thousands of deaths in Belgium could be avoided if all Belgian neighborhoods had the mortality rates of the least deprived areas in terms of housing. Hotspots of housing inequalities need to be located and targeted with tailored public actions
Key risk factors associated with fractal dimension based geographical clustering of Covid-19 data in the Flemish and Brussels region, Belgium
Introduction: COVID-19 remains a major concern globally. Therefore, it is important to evaluate COVID-19's rapidly changing trends. The fractal dimension has been proposed as a viable method to characterize COVID-19 curves since epidemic data is often subject to considerable heterogeneity. In this study, we aim to investigate the association between various socio-demographic factors and the complexity of the COVID-19 curve as quantified through i…
Spatio-Temporal Bayesian Models for Malaria Risk Using Survey and Health Facility Routine Data in Rwanda
The findings of this analysis suggest that using DHS combined with routine health services data for active malaria surveillance may provide provide more precise estimates of the malaria burden, which can be used toward malaria elimination targets. We compared findings from geostatistical modeling of malaria prevalence among under-five-year old children using DHS 2019-2020 and findings from malaria relative risk spatio-temporal modeling using both…
Spatio-temporal dynamic of the Covid-19 epidemic and the impact of imported cases in Rwanda
The study recommends using evidence-based decisions in the management of epidemics and integrating statistical models in the analytics component of the health information system
The influence of Covid-19 risk perception and vaccination status on the number of social contacts across Europe
Our multi-country study yields significant insights on the importance of risk perceptions and vaccination in behavioral changes during a pandemic emergency. The apparent increase in social contact behaviour following vaccination would require urgent intervention in the event of emergence of an immune escaping variant
Longitudinal social contact data analysis
CoMix data highlights the variability of contact patterns across age groups and time, revealing the mechanisms governing the spread/transmission of COVID-19/airborne diseases in the population. Although such longitudinal contact surveys are prone to the under-reporting due to participant fatigue and drop-out, we showed that these factors can be identified and corrected using NBI GAMLSS. This information can be used to improve the design of simila…
Effectiveness of contact tracing for Covid-19 in Belgium
Contact tracing and investigation can prevent infectious disease transmission when carried out promptly. Data obtained from contact tracing also provides unique information on transmission dynamics that can be useful for policy making. The proportion of secondary infections arising from index cases that were previously identified as a close contact, hence “known index cases”, has been indicated by ECDC as a key performance indicator for contact t…
Translating the Covid-19 epidemiological situation into policies and measures
The COVID-19 pandemic led to sustained surveillance efforts, which made unprecedented volumes and types of data available. In Belgium, these data were used to conduct a targeted and regular assessment of the epidemiological situation. In addition, management tools were developed, incorporating key indicators and thresholds, to define risk levels and offer guidance to policy makers. Categorizing risk into various levels provided a stable framework…
Unraveling the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the mortality trends in Belgium between 2020–2022
Despite a consistent decline in COVID-19 reported mortality over this three-year period, it remains imperative to meticulously monitor mortality trends in the years ahead
Trends in socioeconomic inequalities in cause-specific premature mortality in Belgium, 1998–2019
Premature mortality rates have declined over time, but inequality has increased due to a faster pace of decrease in the least deprived areas compared to the most deprived areas. As the causes of death related to poor lifestyle choices contribute the most to the inequality gap, more effective, country-level interventions should be put in place to target segments of the population living in the most deprived areas as they are facing disproportionat…
The impact of quality-adjusted life years on evaluating Covid-19 mitigation strategies
When calculating the impact of measures to mitigate disease spread in terms of life years lost due to COVID-19 mortality, we highlight the impact of COVID-19 on the health-related quality of life of survivors. Our study underscores that disease-related morbidity could constitute a significant part of the overall health burden. Our quantitative findings depend on the specific setup of the interventions under review, which is open to debate or shou…
Cluster pattern analysis of environmental stressors and quantifying their impact on all-cause mortality in Belgium
Environmental stress represents an important burden on health and leads to a considerable number of diseases, hospitalisations, and excess mortality. Our study encompasses a representative sample size drawn from the Belgian population in 2016 (n = 11.26 million, with a focus on n = 11.15 million individuals). The analysis is conducted at the geographical level of statistical sectors, comprising a total of n = 19,794 sectors, with a subset of n = …
Socioeconomic Variability of Covid-19 Vaccine Attrition
Background/Objectives: The success of COVID-19 vaccination campaigns depends not just on initial uptake but also on completion of recommended doses. However, vaccine attrition-the failure to complete full vaccination schedules-remains understudied, particularly how socioeconomic factors influence this phenomenon. This study examines the regional patterns of vaccine attrition in Catalonia during 2021-2022, focusing on how income inequality, and ur…
Capturing the spatiotemporal spread of Covid-19 in 30 European countries during 2020 – 2022
Our study highlighted the benefit of the endemic-epidemic framework to elucidate the COVID-19 disease spread over a large spatial and temporal scale, using a wide range of epidemiological information. Insights derived from this study are beneficial for those interested in seeking an overview of the emergency phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in the EU/EEA region
Medicine (18 works) · Environmental health (14 works) · Demography (13 works) · Public health (13 works) · Biostatistics (10 works) · COVID-19 epidemiological studies (10 works) · Demography (10 works) · Pandemic (10 works) · Population (10 works) · Disease (9 works)