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Jerusalem, Safed and Bnei Brak, all cities where the ultra-orthodox population is very large, are the main causes of measles.
Nine months after the outbreak of the measles outbreak in Israel, the Ministry of Health has released data on the epidemic by locality. The figures show that of the 2,040 cases reported so far, the highest number was recorded in Jerusalem – 874 patients, Beit Shemesh 266 and Safed 149. In Bnei Brak, 97 cases were reported and in Beitar Ilit , 95 people have caught measles.
Vaccine against measles (Photo: Shutterstock)
The data also show that Tel Aviv, Israel's second-most populous city, reported 52 measles cases, while small communities such as Or HaGanuz, a religious community of just 600 in the north, had 22 cases of measles. patients and Kiryat Ye 'arim. an ultra-orthodox city near Jerusalem with less than 5,000 inhabitants, 19 people suffer from measles.
Data from the Ministry of Health indicate that localities with large religious and ultra-orthodox populations are at the top of the list of localities with a high number of measles cases.
The overall vaccination rate in Israel is over 97%, which explains the fact that in large communities, only one or two people have contracted the disease. For example, in Haifa, the third largest city in the world, two patients were registered and in Rishon LeZion, the fourth largest city in the world with a quarter of a million inhabitants, there were only four cases of measles.
In an effort to curb the spread of the epidemic in Jerusalem, city clinics have extended their opening hours in recent weeks to allow parents to vaccinate their children. In addition, on the orders of Deputy Minister of Health Yaakov Litzman, special ambulances were sent to ultra-Orthodox quarters to vaccinate residents.
Even rabbis, led by the Sephardi chief rabbi, joined the call of Litzman and the Ministry of Health and issued Halchic decisions demanding that the public go for immunization. In addition, more nursing positions were added in the Jerusalem District and unvaccinated visitor access to sensitive hospital departments was restricted.
Yaakov Litzman, Deputy Minister of Health (Photo: Effi Sharir)
On Sunday morning, the Knesset State Control Commission discussed the state of readiness of the Ministry of Health to end the measles outbreak. "We have increased measles immunization in all affected communities," said Deputy Minister Litzman. "I welcome the dramatic increase in public awareness of the importance of immunization, thanks to the intensive work of our medical teams, there is still room for improvement and I ask the entire population to be vaccinated in order to avoid an epidemic of the disease. "
The organization "Midaat", which works to raise awareness of health problems, explains that vaccinations also protect members of the population who are not immune, a phenomenon called "collective immunity". Thus, infants who have not yet been vaccinated, people with weakened immune systems, older people whose immune systems have weakened, and even those who deliberately choose not to be immunized are protected by the "protective barrier" that surrounds them.
The greater the number of unimmunized people, because of laziness or ideological resistance, the more the protective barrier is cracked. This is how the number of infected people increases.
Data from the Ministry of Health indicate that the age group where the incidence of measles is highest is that of children aged 1 to 4 years, or 614 patients. 399 patients aged 5-9 years were reported and 265 patients in the 10-19 age group were affected by the disease. 358 infants under one year of age contracted measles.
Last weekend, the youngest patient to have contracted measles in Israel, a three-week-old baby was hospitalized at Mayanei Hayeshua Hospital in Bnei Brak. The baby contracted the disease from her mother, who was unvaccinated and became ill by the age of one week. The mother was infected by another family member. The baby's condition is stable.
"Measles at such a young age is rare," says Professor Eli Somech, director of the hospital's pediatric department and infectious disease specialist. "In the medical literature, there are few reports of morbidity at this age because most babies are protected by antibodies transmitted by the mother before birth and are not exposed to the disease. environment in general. "
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