Four women ages 22-50 are hospitalized in serious condition in intensive care at Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva in central Israel due to complications from the flu, the hospital reported. All four are on ventilators and sedated. Only one of the patients was vaccinated against the flu.
In an interview with Ynet, the head of the Public Health Division at the Ministry of Health, Dr. Sharon Alroy-Preis , said Tuesday that "a lot of people are hesitant to get vaccinated because of all kinds of fake news or publications that are incorrect or distorted."
One of the hospitalized patients suffers from an underlying illness and is connected to an ECMO device, which takes over the activity of the heart and lungs and allows these organs to recover. Another patient arrived after giving birth, another woman was hospitalized with the flu after surgery, and another has been hospitalized for several days with the flu and pneumonia.
Dr. Moran Hellerman, deputy director of the intensive care department at Beilinson Hospital, says that "this flu wave, unlike previous years, involves a younger population and without underlying diseases. This emphasizes the importance of receiving a flu vaccine, which can prevent extreme situations such as these. Also, when experiencing difficulty breathing and worsening symptoms, one should seek medical attention."
Preis said, referring to the cases of death and serious illness: "We know that the flu is perceived as a mild disease, very often it is a mild disease, but it can certainly also be a serious disease that causes both severe illness and complications and even deaths among young and healthy people. This is not the first year that we have said this, and therefore the recommendation is really from the age of six months and up, to get vaccinated against the flu in order to try to prevent this disease, certainly to prevent its severe symptoms."
<< Get the Ynetnews app on your smartphone: Google Play: https://bit.ly/4eJ37pE | Apple App Store: https://bit.ly/3ZL7iNv >>
She noted that "there are three or four strains in the flu vaccine. This year's vaccine is suitable for the strains that are circulating, we already know that and we really recommend getting vaccinated. You need to know that the flu vaccine is not 100 percent effective, but it will still prevent serious illness or prevent illness at all, so it is highly recommended to go get vaccinated. It's not too late, now is the time to get vaccinated."
According to her, alongside the increase in the flu there is also a noticeable increase in the prevalence of the coronavirus, which is why it is recommended that people at risk (age 65 and older, and people with risk factors) also get vaccinated against coronavirus.
"You can get vaccinated against them together at the same time, you don't have to come separately, you just have to really check with the health insurance company where they are, where coronavirus vaccines are available, and go and get vaccinated against both," she said.