More than 3,000 cases of hepatitis A since the beginning of the year

Another child died this week from the flu. He was about four years old, a resident of the north of the country, with no previous health conditions, nor was he vaccinated against the flu. This is the fifth child to die from the flu this season, after four children died as a result of the disease in the entire previous season.

After the tragic deaths, the demand for the flu vaccine increased. The Ministry of Health purchased almost half a million additional vaccines, and yesterday began distributing them to the health funds. In addition, protective kits are distributed in nursing homes and geriatric institutions, where many people who are at risk for the flu live. Apart from vaccinations, assessments also include masks, Tamiflu drugs and tests to diagnose the flu.

The number of known measles patients in Israel is already at least 2,362 patients. Let’s remember that there is quite a bit of hidden morbidity that is not reported to the Ministry of Health, so the real number of patients is much higher than the official number. As of December 22, 14 active patients are hospitalized in the hospitals, five of them in the intensive care unit. The total number of people hospitalized due to measles since the beginning of the outbreak has already reached 779 people. So far, 12 toddlers and a boy have died after contracting the virus, when all but one were not vaccinated with even one dose of MMR or MMRV components, which include the measles vaccine. Since the peak of morbidity in the summer months, between 70 and 90 additional patients are discovered each week. The majority recover, of course, but each such recoverer is at risk of developing the fatal complication SSPE in the coming years, which affects one in several hundred to several thousand recoverers.

A white house dog of the Chihuahua breed was diagnosed with rabies in the settlement of Aniam in the Golan Heights, after being bitten about a month ago by a stray dog ​​in Katsrin. The people who came into contact with the dog were directed to receive preventive treatment. The Ministry of Health asks anyone who has been in contact with him, or whose animal has come into contact with him or a stray animal since November 27 in the area of ​​the incident, to urgently contact the Safed Health Bureau by phone at 04-6994257 or 04-6994200, or to the health bureau closest to his place of residence, for a consultation regarding receiving preventive treatment.

Also in the Upper Galilee, in the Yiftah settlement, a dog with rabies was discovered. This time it is a small brown and white stray dog ​​of the Jack Russell breed. People who were exposed to the dog were referred for treatment. If you suspect that you have been exposed to it, as of December 3, contact the health office in Safed.

In Samaria, a brown female dog was found that died of rabies in the settlement of Tapuh, and in Givat Arnon, a brown male dog that attacked other dogs was diagnosed with rabies. Anyone who has been in contact with those dogs since 5.12 should urgently contact the health office in Petah Tikva, by phone at 03-9051818.

Rabies is an incurable disease. Once the symptoms start, the patient cannot be saved, but quick treatment near exposure prevents the disease altogether.

In the Czech Republic, a country with a population not much larger than Israel’s, are reported on More than 3,000 cases of hepatitis A In all age groups since the beginning of the year – the highest number of hepatitis A patients in the country since 1984. 34 of the patients have died so far from their disease, compared to two deaths in the whole of last year, in which 636 patients were counted. To our relief, the number of new patients is steadily decreasing. Over a third of the patients are in the Prague area, with a renewed increase recorded in the South Moravian region in the south of the country near the borders with the Czech Republic and Austria, especially among the homeless and homeless.

Hepatitis A is mainly dangerous for adults, and is transmitted through contaminated food or water. Improper hand washing is responsible for quite a few infections. The disease has a vaccine that has been given in Israel as part of the routine vaccinations at the ages of six months and two years since the beginning of this century, and if you were born earlier, you can request to have it completed at the health fund. The vaccine is especially recommended if you plan to travel to the Czech Republic. This vaccine does not appear in the Czech routine immunization schedule for children, And according to the ECDC it is only recommended there from the age of 18a decision that may have contributed to this year’s outbreak. The last few weeks were held in the Czech Republic Vaccination promotions for all ages.

From Iran they report on Over a thousand cases of dengue fevera disease that is transmitted by mosquito bites from one infected person to another, since the beginning of the year. About a quarter of the cases are in a single district in the north of the country, probably due to a combination of hot and humid weather and stagnant water sources, which provide ideal conditions for the development of mosquitoes. The second time you contract the disease is much more dangerous than the first, and will usually require the patient to be hospitalized.