Israel is grappling with one of the worst measles outbreaks in decades, with over 1,200 cases reported since the beginning of 2018.
On Thursday, an 18-month-old girl died of complications of the disease at Jerusalem's Shaare Tzedek Medical Center, the country's first death from measles since 2003.
The girl, from an ultra-Orthodox neighborhood in the capital, had not been vaccinated.
Last week, dozens of premature babies at Shaare Tzedek received antibody treatments after they were exposed to a patient diagnosed with measles, which is highly contagious.
The outbreak comes as the World Health Organization has reported tens of thousands of measles cases across Europe.
Measles is one of the leading causes of death worldwide in young children, according to the WHO, but is easily prevented with a vaccine.
Israeli Health Ministry figures are startling. In 2016, only nine Israelis were infected with the measles virus. In 2017, 34 people were infected. So far this year, 1,287 people have been infected, indicating the outbreak of an epidemic.
The epicenter is in Jerusalem, where 753 measles cases have been documented this year. Safed, in the country's north, which also has a large ultra-Orthodox population, is in second place with 231 cases. There have been 84 cases in Tel Aviv and 89 cases in Petach Tikva.
Several haredi Jewish sects oppose vaccinations, and the Health Ministry in recent weeks has stepped up a campaign to increase vaccination rates in unprotected communities.
The family of the toddler who died Thursday, who belong to a sect that rejects all state institutions, is not registered with the Interior Ministry nor with the local Tipat Halav well-baby clinic, the network of state-sponsored clinics that provide maternal and child care. No one in the family has been vaccinated, and both parents have been diagnosed with measles. Two other siblings currently have high fevers and have developed measles symptoms.
"Ninety percent of the measles cases in the capital occur among the unvaccinated haredi population," an infectious diseases expert told Israel Hayom.
Measles symptoms include a dry cough, runny nose, fever, sore throat, inflamed eyes (conjunctivitis), and tiny white spots with bluish-white centers on a red background inside the cheek. Three to five days after symptoms begin, a rash breaks out, which usually begins as flat red spots on the face at the hairline and spreads to the neck, body, and limbs.
"The heart breaks at the death of a baby from measles, a disease that is preventable with a vaccine that is 97% effective," said Israel Pediatric Society Chairman of the Professor Shai Ashkenazi.
"The disease was on the verge of extinction, but due to decreasing vaccination rates it has made a huge comeback.
"We aren't alone: In the first half of 2018, there were over 41,000 measles cases reported in Europe, which have caused at least 37 deaths. These facts reinforce the need for legislation and enforcement to prevent the spread of epidemics," he said.
Ashkenazi said he would like to see vaccinations required by law.
MK Ayelet Nahmias-Verbin (Zionist Union), who is pushing a bill to encourage vaccination, said: "A baby dying because of measles is heartbreaking. Since we are talking about a particularly secluded community, it's hard to determine whether they didn't vaccinate because of religious beliefs or because of accessibility issues, but either way this outcome was the most tragic."
Another bill currently in the works, drafted in collaboration with the Israeli Medical Association and presented to the Knesset in October by MK Merav Ben-Ari (Kulanu), aims to give the Health Ministry director general authority to declare a public health emergency in the event of an infectious disease epidemic and instruct schools to keep unvaccinated children from attending.
On Sunday, yet another bill on the matter will be presented to the Ministerial Committee on Legislation. The bill, submitted by MK Yoel Hasson (Zionist Union) and MK Shuli Mualem-Rafaeli (Habayit Hayehudi) proposes imposing monetary fines on parents who refuse to vaccinate their children.
According to the original version of the bill, parents who refuse to vaccinate their children (for ideological reasons) would have to pay a higher health tax. Following legal consultation and debates within the Health Ministry, the bill was altered to require parents who refuse to vaccinate to attend a workshop on why it is important to vaccinate. Under the new version of the bill, parents who continue to refrain from vaccinating after the workshop will lose tax benefits worth more than 2,000 shekels per year.
