A one-year-old infant died during the Rosh Hashana holiday after she contracted measles and was hospitalized in critical condition for two months at Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center. This is the fourth fatality since the illness broke out in Israel.
The infant was suffering from difficulty breathing and was connected to ECMO during her stay at the pediatric ICU. According to the hospital, secondary illnesses caused by the measles caused her systems to fail.
Two days ago, an unvaccinated 16-month-old boy died of measles.
Due to the outbreak, the Health Ministry has now approved measles vaccines for infants ages 6-11 months, even though the vaccines are only about 64% effective when given so young. Due to the low efficacy, doses given to infants younger than 12 months are not counted as part of the routine vaccinations, and a child who receives this vaccine will still need two vaccines given after the age of one year to be considered fully protected.
In areas with high numbers of measles cases, the second dose may be given before first grade.
Areas considered to have high numbers of measles cases include Beit Shemesh, Bnei Brak, Harish, Jerusalem, Modi’in Illit, and Nof Hagalil.