Prevalence and Risk Factors for Antimicrobial Resistance of Infections in a High-Risk Population.

() infections and antibiotic resistance are increasing in prevalence while treatment options are limited. Limited data exist regarding resistance in Israel. Our aim was to study the prevalence of resistance in a sexually transmitted infection (STI) clinic in Israel.

Early rise of West Nile fever in Israel, June 2024.

This report describes an unusual surge of West Nile fever in Israel in June 2024, during which 125 cases were diagnosed, compared with 4 cases on average during June in previous years (2014-23). Of the cases, 64 (62.1%) had neuroinvasive disease and 12 (9.

Rapid molecular epidemiology investigations into two recent measles outbreaks in Israel detected from October 2023 to January 2024.

Between late 2023 and early 2024, two measles outbreaks occurred in Israel, each caused by importation of measles virus strains of respective B3 and D8 genotypes. In this study, we validate transmission pathways uncovered by epidemiological investigations using a rapid molecular approach, based on complete measles virus genomes. The presented findings support this rapid molecular approach in complementing conventional contact tracing and highlight its potential for informing public health interventions.

Measles outbreak associated with a preschool setting among partially vaccinated children in the Tel Aviv District, Israel, October 2023.

In October 2023, the Tel Aviv District was notified of ten cases of measles. The outbreak initiated in a preschool with high vaccination coverage with one dose of MMR vaccine. Serological testing was available for eight patients (six children and two adults).

A retrospective cohort analysis of treatment outcomes of patients with tuberculosis who used substances in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Aims: To outline the demographic, clinical, laboratory characteristics, and treatment outcomes of tuberculosis (TB) patients who used substances.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study compared 50 TB patients who used substances with a matched random sample of 100 TB patients who did not use substances between 2007 and 2017. Treatment failure was defined as a sputum smear or culture that tested positive after 5 months of treatment, loss to follow-up, unevaluated patients, or death.

Hepatitis C Virus Elimination Program among Prison Inmates, Israel.

The Israeli Prison Services implemented a hepatitis C virus (HCV) elimination program in 2020. Inmates considered high risk for HCV were offered serology; HCV-seropositive participants were offered HCV RNA testing. Among participants, 7.

Demographic and clinical characteristics of children and adolescents hospitalised with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 in the Tel-Aviv District, Israel, 2020-2022.

Our study population consisted of all children and adolescents, with laboratory-confirmed SARS-Co-V-2 infection, hospitalised from February 2020 through February 2022, among residents of the Tel Aviv (TA) District, Israel. There were 491 children and adolescents hospitalised with Sars-CoV-2 infection. Among them, 281 (57%) admitted with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) as the primary cause of admission (rate of 39 per 100 000).

Monkeypox outbreak in the Tel Aviv District, Israel, 2022.

Objectives: From May-September 2022, 203 cases of monkeypox (MPX) were reported in the Tel Aviv (TA) District, Israel. We aim to report the first ongoing local transmission of MPX in Israel.

Methods: We analyzed the epidemiologic and clinical features of all cases of MPX notified to the TA District.

Adherence to antimalarial chemoprophylaxis among Israeli travelers visiting malaria-endemic areas.

Background: Travelers are recommended to take antimalarial chemoprophylaxis (AMC) when traveling to endemic areas.

Methods: This prospective comparative cohort study included 400 Israeli travelers to malaria-endemic areas, recruited in pre-travel clinics. They were contacted within one month following their return and asked about their actual adherence and the reasons for non-adherence.

Morbidity among Israeli backpack travelers to tropical areas.

Background: Travelers to tropical areas may be susceptible to illness or injuries. This study aims to assess morbidity among travelers during their travel and compare those who became ill or were injured with those who did not.

Methods: This prospective study included 400 travelers who were counselled by a physician in pre-travel clinics in central Israel between 2017 and 2018.

Reduction in self-reported influenza-like-illness in school children and household members following influenza vaccine administration - a cohort study, Israel, 2016-7.

Background: Second-grade pupils in Israel have been vaccinated against influenza since the winter of 2016-2017. This study aims to appraise the rate reduction of seasonal influenza vaccine among vaccinated children and their household members, and that of the vaccinated cohort and their household members.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study was performed in winter 2016-2017 in Tel-Aviv District, Israel and compared second-grade pupils who were vaccinated at school, with third-grade pupils- who were not vaccinated at school.

The role of children in the spread of COVID-19: Using household data from Bnei Brak, Israel, to estimate the relative susceptibility and infectivity of children.

One of the significant unanswered questions about COVID-19 epidemiology relates to the role of children in transmission. This study uses data on infections within households in order to estimate the susceptibility and infectivity of children compared to those of adults. The data were collected from households in the city of Bnei Brak, Israel, in which all household members were tested for COVID-19 using PCR (637 households, average household size of 5.

Pediatric measles cases by residence status in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Background: Measles is a vaccine-preventable infectious disease whose outbreaks generally originate from exposure to populations with low vaccination coverage.

Methods: This study compared the rates and morbidity of measles cases in the district of Tel-Aviv during two outbreaks (2012 and 2018-2019) by citizenship and geographic location.

Results: There were 67 pediatric cases reported in 2012 and 222 in 2018-2019.

A Measles Outbreak in the Tel Aviv District, Israel, 2018-2019.

During a national measles outbreak in 2018-2019, the Tel Aviv District suffered a major upsurge of cases, with 413 patients reported. Among them, 100 (24%) were <1 year, 92 (22%) patients were aged 12 months to 4 years, 47 (11%) were 5-18 years, 169 (41%) were 19-60 years, and 5 (1%) patients were older than 61 years (born before 1957). Among all cases, 230 (56%) were part of the Ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, 55 (13%) were among undocumented African immigrants.

Attitudes of Israeli medical students towards the medical treatment of uninsured migrants.

Background: Undocumented migration to developed countries poses practical concerns, as migrants are not medically insured. This cross-sectional study aims to appraise the attitudes of Israeli medical students towards the uninsured migrant population.

Methods: Participants from five medical schools in Israel completed anonymous questionnaires in Hebrew, based on the "Medical Students' Attitudes Toward the Underserved" (MSATU), which assessed students' attitudes regarding the professional responsibility and societal expectations towards the migrants.

Surveillance of invasive meningococcal disease in the Tel Aviv District, Israel, 2007-2017.

Invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) is one of the leading causes of bacterial meningitis and septicemia in Israel. The purpose of the study was to describe the IMD in the Tel Aviv District and to identify specific populations who could benefit from vaccine introduction. In the Tel Aviv District, the incidence rates ranged from 0.

Outbreak of human leptospirosis linked to contaminated water bodies in Northern Israel, June to August 2018.

We report preliminary findings of a large outbreak of human leptospirosis with 36 confirmed/probable and 583 suspected cases from June-August 2018, linked to contaminated water bodies in Northern Israel. There was a travel-associated case in Germany; additional cases are being investigated in other countries. The presumed chain of transmission, implicating wild boar and cattle, raises multiple challenges for risk assessment, risk management and risk communication currently being addressed by a public health response team.

Outbreak of West Nile Virus disease in Israel (2015): A retrospective analysis of notified cases.

Background: West Nile Virus (WNV) is mosquito-borne virus that is endemic in Israel. In 2015, national disease surveillance demonstrated a sharp increase in disease cases, with 149 cases diagnosed.

Methods: Clinical data was extracted from the patients' medical files and laboratory analysis on blood, cerebrospinal fluid or urine was carried out.

Heterosexual men who purchase sex and attended an STI clinic in Israel: characteristics and sexual behavior.

Background: Commercial sex shares a role in HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STI) transmission. Men who pay for sex (MPS) may transmit HIV/STI to other populations which are low-risk. This study aimed to test our hypothesis that MPS engage in high-risk sexual behaviors associated with HIV/STI transmission more so than non-MPS.

Growth, developmental achievements and vaccines timeliness of undocumented migrant children from Eritrea compared with Israelis.

Introduction: Israel has absorbed >40,000 Eritrean undocumented migrants since 2007, while the majority live in the southern neighborhoods of Tel-Aviv. As non-citizens and citizens infants in Israel receive free preventive treatment at the mother and child health clinics (MCHC), this study aimed to compare development and growth achievements between children of Eritrean mothers (CE) to children of Israeli mothers (CI), and assess their compliance to routine follow-up and vaccination-timeliness.

Methods: This cohort study included all Israeli-born CE between 2009 and 2011, compared with a random sample of CI and treated at the same MCHC and followed-up to the age of 30-months.

Ongoing hepatitis A among men who have sex with men (MSM) linked to outbreaks in Europe in Tel Aviv area, Israel, December 2016 - June 2017.

Between December 2016 and June 2017, 19 Hepatitis A virus (HAV)-positive cases, 17 of which were among men who have sex with men (MSM) were identified in the Tel Aviv area. Seven of the 15 sewage samples collected between January and June 2017 were also HAV-positive. All sequences clustered with two of the three strains identified in the current European HAV outbreak.

Causes of death and mortality trends of all individuals reported with HIV/AIDS in Israel, 1985-2010.

Background: Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has changed life-expectancy and mortality trends among people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) since 1996. This retrospective cohort study aimed to assess the mortality epidemiology of PLWHA in Israel and analyze the causes of death.

Methods: This cohort study included all adult Israeli-citizens PLWHA between 1985 and 2010 and crossed matched with the Civil Registry to identify those who died.

Evidence for Hepatitis A virus endemic circulation in Israel despite universal toddlers' vaccination since 1999 and low clinical incidence in all age groups.

Background: Universal toddlers vaccination (UTV) introduced in 1999, reduced hepatitis A incidence in Israel from 50.4 to <1.0/100,000.