Israeli Soldiers Need Measles Vaccination Too

Israeli Army officials are focusing on ‘hundreds of soldiers’ who were in contact with a measles-infected servicewoman, reported the Times of Israel.   

The Israel Defense Forces are working to contact those soldiers, who were in the vicinity of a female soldier, who arrived at the Kirya’ Israel medical clinic with measles symptoms during early December 2018. 

This medical clinic is located on Israel’s northwest coast, which is not near Jerusalem, where there is an ongoing measles outbreak. 

But this measles case is part of an ongoing measles outbreak in Israel. 

On November 10, 2018, the Health Ministry of the State of Israel announced that Jerusalem had reported 838 measles cases during 2018.   

Measles is transmitted from one person to another if the virus is ejected into the environment by coughing, sneezing, or having direct contact with nasal secretions and phlegm. 

Additionally, a measles infection can also occur from staying in a room with an infected patient, up to two hours after the patient left the room, says the Israel Health Ministry. 

Moreover, Israel is not alone during this measles outbreak. 

On December 14th, the EU Centers for Disease Prevention and Control reported 13,144 cases of measles during 2018. 

As an example of the continuing outbreak, France reported 68 measles cases in October, compared with 37 in September and 29 cases in August. 

In response to the Israel and EU measles outbreaks, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Level 1 Travel Alert on November 16, 2018.   

The CDC says that if you plan to travel to Israel, protect yourself against measles by getting vaccinated at least 2 weeks in advance of your trip if you are not immune.

Moreover, the CDC says you should be up-to-date on routine vaccines before every trip. These vaccines include the hepatitis A, diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis, varicella (chickenpox), polio, and your yearly flu vaccination.   

International travelers can easily request an MMR vaccination appointment with a local pharmacy at Vax-Before-Travel.     

The CDC Vaccine Price List provides the private sector vaccine prices for general information. 

And, measles vaccine discounts can be found here.   

Vaccines, like any medicine, can have side effects. You are encouraged to report negative side effects of vaccines to the CDC.