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- A flight attendant from the Israeli company El Al has been in a coma for 10 days after contracting measles, CNN reported, citing the Israeli Ministry of Health.
- The flight attendant went to the hospital on March 31 with a fever and is now in the intensive care unit of a hospital near Tel Aviv, according to CNN's report. She reportedly used a respirator to breathe.
- According to the CDC, at least 465 people in the United States had contracted measles on April 4, more than any other full year since 2014, when 667 cases were reported.
- The increase in the number of measles cases followed the lower vaccination rates.
- Visit BusinessInsider.com for more stories.
A flight attendant from the Israeli company El Al has been in a coma for 10 days after contracting measles, CNN reported, citing the Israeli Ministry of Health.
The 43-year-old woman was apparently healthy before catching the virus, but she has now developed an inflammation of the brain called encephalitis. According to the Mayo Clinic, encephalitis most often causes mild symptoms, such as fevers or headaches, but can in rare cases be fatal.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, one or two children with measles will die from the virus, while one in 1,000 will develop encephalitis.
Read more: Even if you get the measles vaccine, you may not be protected against the disease – here's how to find out.
The flight attendant went to the hospital on March 31 with a fever and is now in the intensive care unit of a hospital near Tel Aviv, according to CNN's report. She reportedly used a respirator to breathe.
Israeli health authorities do not yet know where the flight attendant caught measles, but told CNN that it could have happened in Israel, New York or during a flight between them.
"El Al operates according to the guidelines of the Ministry of Health," said a representative of El Al at Business Insider.
The flight attendant would have received the measles vaccine as a child, but would have received only one dose. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a single dose of measles vaccine is 93% effective, while two doses are 97% effective.
According to the CDC, at least 465 people in the United States had contracted measles on April 4, more than any other full year since 2014, when 667 cases were reported. The increase in the number of measles cases followed the lower vaccination rates. Anti-vaccination groups and speeches have sparked controversy and frustrated the health community.
"We are beginning to witness an upsurge in vaccine-preventable diseases that we expect to be rid of in the US I am concerned when the proportion of exempted individuals increases and becomes large enough for the public to be at risk, Nathaniel Smith elected president of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, told Insider, sister publication of Business Insider.
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