REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA – An Israeli soldier on Tuesday (26/12/2023) died after suffering from a rare fungal infection contracted after being wounded in Gaza more than two weeks ago. The soldier’s death, as well as other fungal infections among hospitalized soldiers, sparked panic.
However, experts say these cases do not mean Israel will face an epidemic of fungal infections. “There is no need to panic,” said the director of the Faculty of Public Health at Ben-Gurion University, Professor Nadav Davidovitch, as reported by The media line.
He said the Israeli health system was monitoring the situation to see if there was a pattern among soldiers suffering from fungal infections after being wounded in Gaza. Davidovitch pointed out that these types of infections often develop after open wounds have been exposed to a war zone environment for long periods of time.
“We have cases of soldiers who were seriously injured in previous wars, who were also in environmental situations where wounds could become infected and require time to evacuate to a medical facility,” he said.
Davidovitch noted that the soldier who had just died was seriously injured. “This situation can increase the risk of transmission, especially if you are on a battlefield,” he said. Israel’s Health Ministry said on Tuesday that this type of multisystem damage also damages the immune system, increasing the risk of infection.
“This is a phenomenon known to the medical world and occurs even in cases that are not military injuries. “In severe and complex wounds in the field, there may be infections originating from the ground, but this is not a new phenomenon characteristic of the Gaza Strip,” the Israeli Health Ministry wrote in a statement.
The ministry also wrote that the health system is busy treating the large number of soldiers wounded in the war, some of whom face very complex injuries.
Soldiers are advised to be vigilant, but according to Davidovitch there is some panic and confusion between incidents like this and the health situation in Gaza. He noted that about 10 soldiers had unusual infections, including the soldier who died.
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2023-12-28 13:59:29
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