An almost-one-year-old baby girl has been connected to an ECMO machine and is in critical condition after she contracted measles.
The infant is vaccinated according to schedule, but because she has not yet passed her first birthday, she has not yet been vaccinated against the measles virus.
She was evacuated to the hospital over the weekend, and arrived in very serious condition. At the hospital, she was diagnosed with measles and found to be suffering significant respiratory distress.
A second child, a two-year-old boy who is completely unvaccinated, is also on an ECMO machine and in serious condition due to measles.
Both children are hospitalized at Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center in Jerusalem; one was admitted to HEK’s ICU shortly upon arrival at the hospital, while the other was transferred from Shaaare Zedek Medical Center.
“This is a life-threatening illness,” Hadassah’s doctors stressed in a statement to the public. “Vaccinate your children according to Health Ministry guidelines.”
The hospitals also noted that the number of seriously-ill measles patients rose significantly recently.
Dr. Uri Pollak, head of the PICU at Hadassah, said, “Measles is a viral illness which infects others rapidly, especially in enclosed areas. This is a dangerous and serious illness which causes fever, general malaise, runny nose, and rash, and can cause serious and life-threatening complications.”
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