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MUMPS - ISRAEL (02)
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A ProMED-mail post
<http://www.promedmail.org>
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>
Date: Wed 18 Nov 2009
Source: Haaretz - Israel News [edited]
<http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1128723.html>
Ministry: Israel in midst of mumps outbreak
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Israel is in the midst of a mumps outbreak, the Health Ministry
announced this week [week of 16 Nov 2009]. Since the beginning of
September [2009], 105 people have been diagnosed with mumps, most
between the ages of 10 and 24. During the same period in 2008, only 4
people were diagnosed with the disease, a contagious virus
characterized by swollen salivary glands. Only 13 cases were reported
for the entire year. In 2007, only 6 mumps cases were reported.
Of the current cases, 82 are people from Jerusalem, but the disease
has also been found in the central region (11 cases), Tel Aviv (5),
the south (4), and Haifa (2). One of the patients developed
testicular infection, a complication of mumps, and is hospitalized in
a Jerusalem hospital.
Itamar Grotto, director of Public Health Services in the Health
Ministry, believes the increase in the number of cases stems from the
fact that the mumps inoculation was added to the national vaccination
program only in 1988, along with measles and rubella. The mumps
vaccine is given to children in 2 doses -- at the age of 1 year and
in 1st grade.
"The outbreak is believed to have occurred among Israelis who didn't
get both doses," Grotto said. Most of the patients are believed to be
from communities that refuse to be inoculated, particularly the
ultra-Orthodox. "People who are not inoculated are not exposed to
children's diseases, because the population around them has been
inoculated. However, they tend to contract these diseases as adults,
and at this stage the diseases are more dangerous due to possible
complications," said Professor David Greenberg, of the Pediatric
Infectious Disease Unit in the Soroka University Medical Center at
Ben-Gurion University.
In most cases, mumps runs it course without treatment, but one-tenth
of patients develop mild forms of meningitis. In other cases, it
could lead to testicular infection or ovarian inflammation. In men it
could also lead to deafness or sterility. The Israel Pediatrics
Association called on parents to make sure their children receive
both doses of the mumps vaccine, in keeping with the national program.
An increase in mumps cases has also been reported in the United
States and Canada. At the end of last week [week of 9 Nov 2009], 15
students at Jerusalem's Or Shmuel Yeshiva came down with mumps,
apparently after being in close proximity to a student who contracted
the disease in Brooklyn [currently the site of an ongoing outbreak of
mumps in the USA, see: ProMED-mail archive references below}.
[Byline: Dan Even]
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail Rapporteur Brent Barrett
[The late introduction of universal mumps vaccination in Israel may
in part explain the extent of the current outbreak of mumps in young
adults. Additionally the fact that most of the patients are believed
to be from ultra-orthodox communities, that decline vaccination, may
explain the high incidence of mumps among Yeshiva students as
reported in the preceding ProMED-mail report archive no.
20091119.3990). It is clear that the population of Israel contains an
appreciable proportion of individuals unvaccinated or partially
vaccinated, and that the country as a whole is vulnerable to
introduction of infection from elsewhere (in this case probably the
USA or Canada).
The HealthMap/ProMED-mail interactive map of Israel can be accessed at
<http://healthmap.org/r/00aH>. - Mod.CP]
[see also:
Mumps - Israel: Yeshiva students, RFI 20091119.3990
Mumps - USA (NY, NJ), Canada (QC) 20091113.3934
Mumps - USA (04): (NY) 20091106.3835
Mumps - USA (03): (NY) 20091023.3655]
...................................cp/mj/dk
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