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Ten patients with cancer on the hematooncological workplace of the Ichilov hospital were exposed to measles and were called to receive emergency preventive care, showed on Monday.
Children receive an immunoglobulin injection in the center.
A baby with measles is a cancer patient from Ukraine who has come to the meeting department. Physicians noticed that he had measles symptoms and the laboratory test confirmed the diagnosis.
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Officials at the Tel Aviv hospital said the child had come into close contact with ten other patients in the ward. None of them were hospitalized.
This is the day after the Ministry of Health decided to limit visits to hospitals for people not vaccinated against measles and denied any access to sensitive departments such as preterm infants, intensive care and haematological units where patients tend to have a weakened immune system.
In recent months, dozens of toddlers, children, and preterm babies have been prompted for preventive treatment after coming into contact with people with measles when they were in the hospital.
Also on Monday, officials from the Department of Health decided not to increase the age of the first vaccine dose from 12 months to nine months due to the limited vaccine efficacy at this age, and due to the need to repeat the 12-month vaccine for a prematurely vaccinated baby.
However, Ministry of Health officials responsible for focal areas may still decide to call for children aged 9-11 months for an early vaccine. The decision was made in the discussion with representatives of health care organizations and chairperson of the Pediatric Association, including experts.
Currently, vaccination is recommended only for children up to 6 to 11 months before traveling abroad.
The Ministry of Health decided on Sunday that further steps are needed to suppress the outbreak of the epidemic and control the possibility of preventing schools of children who have not been vaccinated – a complicated legal step.
Two other 12-year-old Katzrin students in the Golan Heights were diagnosed with illness and, according to reports on Sunday, these young women attended schools with mermaids last week. The Ministry addressed parents.
First-class pupils at the Rimonim School in Ashdod received their second dose of the vaccine after the teacher announced she had become ill. Later it turned out that the teacher does not have measles.
Since the beginning of the year, 1,334 cases of measles, including one fatal, 18-month-old girl, have been reported. She was the first person to die in Israel in 15 years.
In Jerusalem, the number of cases has increased, especially in ultra-Orthodox districts. The ministry has decided to expand its immunization program in the city, especially in these more vulnerable areas. Officials say the immunization drive in recent weeks has raised the immunity level from just 55 percent to more than 80 percent of the population. However, it is still lower immunity than anywhere else in the country and less than 95% of the immunization needed for herd immunity, the level at which the disease is stopped.
The ministry extends the hours of children's clinics and keeps them open for 8 years from the beginning. until 8 pm, and on Fridays from 8 AM. to noon. In addition, the immunization program on bicycles will continue to visit affected neighborhoods and invite residents to vaccinate.
