Niel Hens
Dados Biográficos
| ID | 2280211 |
|---|---|
| NOME | Niel Hens |
| PRENOMES | Niel |
| SOBRENOME | Hens |
| ASSINATURA | HENS N |
| AFILIAÇÕES | University of Antwerp |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-1881-0637 |
| VERIFICADO | Sim |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 27 |
| TOTAL DE CITAÇÕES | 1 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 27 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 0 |
| PRIMEIRO ANO DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 2008 |
| ANO MAIS RECENTE DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 2025 |
| ÍNDICE H | 1 |
Embedding risk monitoring in infectious disease surveillance for timely and effective outbreak prevention and control
Epidemic intelligence efforts aim to predict, timely detect and assess (re-)emerging pathogens, guide and evaluate infectious disease prevention or control. We emphasise the underused potential of integrating the monitoring of risks related to exposure, disease or death, particularly in settings where limited diagnostic capacity and access to healthcare hamper timely prevention/control measures. Monitoring One Health exposures, human behaviour, i…
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
Belgium’s Sars-CoV-2 contact tracing effectively curbed transmission, yet challenges persist in terms of delays, scalability and population adherence
Through contact tracing, researchers could reconstruct chains of linked cases by linking High-Risk Exposure Contacts (HREC) testing positive to their index case. We present chain-level descriptives, delays and an individual-level analysis of the events that determine chain progression. We used data from contact tracing outside of collectivities between September 2020 and March 2022 in Belgium. We present chain-level generation counts and structur…
Personal characteristics and transmission dynamics associated with Sars-CoV-2 semi-quantitative PCR test results
Introduction Following harmonization efforts by the Belgian National Reference Center for SARS-CoV-2, semi-quantitative PCR test (SQ-PCR) results, used as a proxy for viral load, were routinely collected after performing RT-qPCR tests. Methods We investigated both the personal characteristics associated with SQ-PCR results and the transmission dynamics involving these results. We used person-level laboratory test data and contact tracing data col…
Determinants of Covid-19 vaccination coverage in European and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries
Introduction: In relatively wealthy countries, substantial between-country variability in COVID-19 vaccination coverage occurred. We aimed to identify influential national-level determinants of COVID-19 vaccine uptake at different COVID-19 pandemic stages in such countries. Methods: We considered over 50 macro-level demographic, healthcare resource, disease burden, political, socio-economic, labor, cultural, life-style indicators as explanatory f…
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…
Determinants of life-expectancy and disability-adjusted life years (Dalys) in European and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries
We relate 68 factors to population health observed in 61 countries over 30 years.•Using random forests, multiple imputation and generalized estimating equations.•GDP per capita and demographics are key; income inequality is not.•Health and social expenditure are more influential than freedom and corruption.•On the macro-level, life-style effects appear to be mediated by cultural context
Contact patterns of older adults with and without frailty in the Netherlands during the Covid-19 pandemic
The results of this study reveal that social distancing measures during the COVID-19 pandemic differentially affected the contact patterns of older adults with and without frailty. The reduction of contacts may have led to the direct protection of older adults in general but also to the indirect protection of older adults with frailty
Impact of tiered measures on social contact and mixing patterns of in Italy during the second wave of Covid-19
The progressive restriction tiers implemented in Italy reduced the reproduction number, with stricter interventions associated with higher reductions. Readily collected contact data can inform the implementation of mitigation measures at the national level in epidemic emergencies to come
The direct disease burden of Covid-19 in Belgium in 2020 and 2021
COVID-19 had a substantial impact on population health in Belgium, especially in 2020, when COVID-19 would have been the main cause of disease burden if all other causes had maintained their 2019 level
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…
Social contact patterns in Japan in the Covid-19 pandemic during and after the Tokyo Olympic Games
Background: Social contact data in Japan have not been updated since 2011. The main objectives of this study are to report on newly collected social contact data, to study mixing patterns in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, and to compare the contact patterns during and after mass events like the 2020 Olympic Games, which were held in 2021. Methods: We compared the number of contacts per day during and after the Olympic Games and on weekdays…
Dual Use of Public and Private Health Care Services in Brazil
(1) Background: Brazil has a universal public healthcare system, but individuals can still opt to buy private health insurance and/or pay out-of-pocket for healthcare. Past research suggests that Brazilians make combined use of public and private services, possibly causing double costs. This study aims to describe this dual use and assess its relationship with socioeconomic status (SES). (2) Methods: We calculated survey-weighted population estim…
Time trends in social contacts before and during the Covid-19 pandemic
Physical distancing measures in Quebec significantly decreased social contacts, which most likely mitigated the spread of COVID-19
Covid-19 surveillance in the Flemish school system
We demonstrate that effective integration of case surveillance within an electronic school health system is feasible, provides valuable data regarding the evolution of an epidemic among schoolchildren, and is an integral component of public health surveillance and pandemic preparedness. The relationship towards community transmission needs careful evaluation because of age-different testing regimens. In the Flemish region, case incidence within s…
Belgian population norms for the EQ-5D-5L, 2018
This paper presents the first nationally representative Belgian population norms using the EQ-5D-5L. Inclusion of the EQ-5D in future surveys will allow monitoring over time of self-reported health, disease burden, and health inequalities
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…
Incidence estimation from sentinel surveillance data; a simulation study and application to data from the Belgian laboratory sentinel surveillance
The Huff-model allows for estimation of the spatial and population coverage of sentinel surveillance and through IPW-methods also for the estimation of the total number of cases. The Huff-model's gravity function allows us to differentiate inside an area while estimating from the full dataset. Our data examples show that additional data on the participation to surveillance and practices of labs is necessary for a more accurate estimation
Factors influencing risky sexual behaviour among Mozambican miners
In Mozambique, behavioural theory emphasising personal behavioural changes is the main strategy to combat HIV among miners. Our findings suggest there is a need to change thinking processes about how to influence safer sexual behaviour. This is viewed to be the result of a person's individual decision, due to of the complexity of social and contextual factors that may also influence sexual behaviours. This only stresses the need for HIV preventio…
Quality-of-life
The population norms provided can be used directly as input in health economic evaluations. Estimating health-related quality-of-life in children and developing statistical tools capturing the particular features of health-related quality-of-life measures are important areas for future research
Prevalence of high-risk human papillomavirus and abnormal pap smears in female sex workers compared to the general population in Antwerp, Belgium
FSWs have a significantly higher prevalence of hrHPV and more abnormal Pap smears than does the general population in Antwerp, Belgium. The hrHPV prevalence in FSWs is similar to that reported in the literature. The need for tailored intervention programmes should be investigated further
Public preferences over efficiency, equity and autonomy in vaccination policy
Dynamics of HPV vaccination initiation in Flanders (Belgium) 2007-2009
When the initiative for HPV vaccination lies with the girls, their families or the physicians (no organized setting) the uptake of the vaccines is affected by both individual and organizational factors
Social Contacts and Mixing Patterns Relevant to the Spread of Infectious Diseases
BACKGROUND: Mathematical modelling of infectious diseases transmitted by the respiratory or close-contact route (e.g., pandemic influenza) is increasingly being used to determine the impact of possible interventions. Although mixing patterns are known to be crucial determinants for model outcome, researchers often rely on a priori contact assumptions with little or no empirical basis. We conducted a population-based prospective survey of mixing p…
Dynamics of HPV vaccination initiation in Flanders (Belgium) 2007-2009
When the initiative for HPV vaccination lies with the girls, their families or the physicians (no organized setting) the uptake of the vaccines is affected by both individual and organizational factors
Age-disparity, sexual connectedness and HIV infection in disadvantaged communities around Cape Town, South Africa
This study design is intended to facilitate more accurate recall of sensitive sexual history data and has the potential to provide substantial insights into the relationship between key sexual network attributes and additional risk factors for HIV infection. This will help to inform the design of context-specific HIV prevention programmes
Public preferences over efficiency, equity and autonomy in vaccination policy
Prevalence of high-risk human papillomavirus and abnormal pap smears in female sex workers compared to the general population in Antwerp, Belgium
FSWs have a significantly higher prevalence of hrHPV and more abnormal Pap smears than does the general population in Antwerp, Belgium. The hrHPV prevalence in FSWs is similar to that reported in the literature. The need for tailored intervention programmes should be investigated further
Factors influencing risky sexual behaviour among Mozambican miners
In Mozambique, behavioural theory emphasising personal behavioural changes is the main strategy to combat HIV among miners. Our findings suggest there is a need to change thinking processes about how to influence safer sexual behaviour. This is viewed to be the result of a person's individual decision, due to of the complexity of social and contextual factors that may also influence sexual behaviours. This only stresses the need for HIV preventio…
Quality-of-life
The population norms provided can be used directly as input in health economic evaluations. Estimating health-related quality-of-life in children and developing statistical tools capturing the particular features of health-related quality-of-life measures are important areas for future research
Incidence estimation from sentinel surveillance data; a simulation study and application to data from the Belgian laboratory sentinel surveillance
The Huff-model allows for estimation of the spatial and population coverage of sentinel surveillance and through IPW-methods also for the estimation of the total number of cases. The Huff-model's gravity function allows us to differentiate inside an area while estimating from the full dataset. Our data examples show that additional data on the participation to surveillance and practices of labs is necessary for a more accurate estimation
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…
Belgian population norms for the EQ-5D-5L, 2018
This paper presents the first nationally representative Belgian population norms using the EQ-5D-5L. Inclusion of the EQ-5D in future surveys will allow monitoring over time of self-reported health, disease burden, and health inequalities
Social contact patterns in Japan in the Covid-19 pandemic during and after the Tokyo Olympic Games
Background: Social contact data in Japan have not been updated since 2011. The main objectives of this study are to report on newly collected social contact data, to study mixing patterns in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, and to compare the contact patterns during and after mass events like the 2020 Olympic Games, which were held in 2021. Methods: We compared the number of contacts per day during and after the Olympic Games and on weekdays…
Dual Use of Public and Private Health Care Services in Brazil
(1) Background: Brazil has a universal public healthcare system, but individuals can still opt to buy private health insurance and/or pay out-of-pocket for healthcare. Past research suggests that Brazilians make combined use of public and private services, possibly causing double costs. This study aims to describe this dual use and assess its relationship with socioeconomic status (SES). (2) Methods: We calculated survey-weighted population estim…
Time trends in social contacts before and during the Covid-19 pandemic
Physical distancing measures in Quebec significantly decreased social contacts, which most likely mitigated the spread of COVID-19
Covid-19 surveillance in the Flemish school system
We demonstrate that effective integration of case surveillance within an electronic school health system is feasible, provides valuable data regarding the evolution of an epidemic among schoolchildren, and is an integral component of public health surveillance and pandemic preparedness. The relationship towards community transmission needs careful evaluation because of age-different testing regimens. In the Flemish region, case incidence within s…
Determinants of life-expectancy and disability-adjusted life years (Dalys) in European and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries
We relate 68 factors to population health observed in 61 countries over 30 years.•Using random forests, multiple imputation and generalized estimating equations.•GDP per capita and demographics are key; income inequality is not.•Health and social expenditure are more influential than freedom and corruption.•On the macro-level, life-style effects appear to be mediated by cultural context
Contact patterns of older adults with and without frailty in the Netherlands during the Covid-19 pandemic
The results of this study reveal that social distancing measures during the COVID-19 pandemic differentially affected the contact patterns of older adults with and without frailty. The reduction of contacts may have led to the direct protection of older adults in general but also to the indirect protection of older adults with frailty
Impact of tiered measures on social contact and mixing patterns of in Italy during the second wave of Covid-19
The progressive restriction tiers implemented in Italy reduced the reproduction number, with stricter interventions associated with higher reductions. Readily collected contact data can inform the implementation of mitigation measures at the national level in epidemic emergencies to come
The direct disease burden of Covid-19 in Belgium in 2020 and 2021
COVID-19 had a substantial impact on population health in Belgium, especially in 2020, when COVID-19 would have been the main cause of disease burden if all other causes had maintained their 2019 level
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…
Personal characteristics and transmission dynamics associated with Sars-CoV-2 semi-quantitative PCR test results
Introduction Following harmonization efforts by the Belgian National Reference Center for SARS-CoV-2, semi-quantitative PCR test (SQ-PCR) results, used as a proxy for viral load, were routinely collected after performing RT-qPCR tests. Methods We investigated both the personal characteristics associated with SQ-PCR results and the transmission dynamics involving these results. We used person-level laboratory test data and contact tracing data col…
Determinants of Covid-19 vaccination coverage in European and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries
Introduction: In relatively wealthy countries, substantial between-country variability in COVID-19 vaccination coverage occurred. We aimed to identify influential national-level determinants of COVID-19 vaccine uptake at different COVID-19 pandemic stages in such countries. Methods: We considered over 50 macro-level demographic, healthcare resource, disease burden, political, socio-economic, labor, cultural, life-style indicators as explanatory f…
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…
Embedding risk monitoring in infectious disease surveillance for timely and effective outbreak prevention and control
Epidemic intelligence efforts aim to predict, timely detect and assess (re-)emerging pathogens, guide and evaluate infectious disease prevention or control. We emphasise the underused potential of integrating the monitoring of risks related to exposure, disease or death, particularly in settings where limited diagnostic capacity and access to healthcare hamper timely prevention/control measures. Monitoring One Health exposures, human behaviour, i…
Medicine (24 obras) · Demography (18 obras) · Environmental health (17 obras) · Public health (17 obras) · Population (16 obras) · COVID-19 epidemiological studies (15 obras) · Demography (15 obras) · Biostatistics (12 obras) · Disease (12 obras) · Epidemiology (12 obras)