Measles is a highly contagious viral disease, and hence, sufficient herd immunity is obligatory to prevent infection transmission. Measles is still a cause of considerable disease burden globally, mainly in children. During a national measles outbreak in Israel in 2018-2019, the peak incidence rates occurred in the Jerusalem district.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: SARS-CoV-2 clinical presentation is associated with the patients' age group. Overall, young individuals present higher proportions of asymptomatic or mild COVID-19 infection, compared to adults. Data on secondary COVID-19 transmission in households, according to the cases' age group, are accumulating.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInvasive meningococcal disease (IMD) is a devastating disease with significant mortality and long-term morbidity. The COVID-19 pandemic and containment measures have affected the epidemiology of infectious pathogens. This study's aim was to assess IMD trends in Israel prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDespite being a vaccine-preventable disease for decades, pertussis control is still a public health challenge. A pertussis outbreak emerged in Jerusalem ( = 257 cases, January to June 2023). Most cases were young children (median age 1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMeasles is a highly contagious disease. A 24 years old patient, recently exposed to measles (unvaccinated), presented in the emergency department with severe agitation, compatible with an acute psychotic episode, during the measles epidemic which spread in Israel in 2018-2019. Upon hospital admission, strict isolation was instructed, yet, without compliance, probably due to the patient's status.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOn 13 March 2020, Israel's government declared closure of all schools. Schools fully reopened on 17 May 2020. Ten days later, a major outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) occurred in a high school.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMeasles epidemics are still a public health challenge worldwide, necessitating a rapid response. The Jerusalem District Health Office applied a community-oriented intervention during the 2018-2019 epidemic (2150 notified cases). Program development targeted the socioeconomic and cultural characteristics of high-incidence Jewish ultraorthodox communities.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Aims: Neisseria meningitidis (N. meningitidis) is a Gram-negative bacterium that can cause life-threatening invasive infections referred to as invasive meningococcal disease (IMD). In the last decade the incidence of IMD in Israel is about 1/100,000 population annually.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn Israel, 262 mumps cases were registered between 1 January and 28 August 2017 despite a vaccine coverage of ≥ 96%. The majority (56.5%) of cases were adolescents and young adults between 10 and 24 years of age.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Ethiopian immigration to Israel was initiated in 1981. Most immigrants were rural dwellers who migrated first to Addis Ababa or Gondar, where they waited for eligibility status from Israel to leave Ethiopia. Soon after arriving in Israel, all immigrants were offered screening tests for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and syphilis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe evaluated the outcome of invasive meningococcal disease in children <15 years of age (n = 181). Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B comprised 78% of bacterial isolates. Case fatality rate was 11.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Pertussis remains a cause of considerable morbidity in children worldwide. Due to the resurgence of the disease, two vaccine doses for schoolchildren were added to the routine Israeli schedule. In 2005 a 5th dose was introduced for second-graders (aged 7-8), and in 2008 an additional catch-up dose in the eighth grade (13-14 year-olds).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Foodborne Salmonella enterica outbreaks constitute both a threat to public health and an economic burden worldwide.
Objectives: To characterize the pathogen(s) involved and possible source of infection of an outbreak of acute gastroenteritis in a banqueting hall in Jerusalem.
Methods: We conducted interviews of guests and employees of the banqueting hall, and analyzed food items, samples from work surfaces and stool cultures.
Background: Onchocerciasis results from infestation by the nematode Onchocerca volvulus, and is characterized clinically by troublesome itching, skin lesions and eye manifestations. Since 1992, approximately 9,000 immigrants have arrived in Israel from the Kuwara province of northwest Ethiopia where the prevalence of onchocerciasis is particularly high.
Objectives: To determine whether onchocerciasis is the cause of cutaneous and ocular symptoms among recent immigrants from the Kuwara province in Ethiopia.