”As Soldier with Fungal Infection Dies, Fears Grow of Gaza Diseases Spreading into Israel” is the title of the Times of Israel coverage of Israel’s predicament. It reminds one of nothing so much as Edgar Poe’s “The Masque of the Red Death.”
An Israeli soldier with serious wounds had round-the-clock care, but “the fungus proved to be treatment-resistant and the soldier succumbed to his wounds. Military medical officials ... confirm that there are isolated cases of similar fungal infections among wounded soldiers returning from Gaza,” but TOI reports: “Cases of potentially deadly fungal infections … are less isolated than has been reported.” However, this may only be the beginning, as whatever is now breeding in the plague-like conditions of Gaza’s 1.9 million displaced people, has not yet shown up among Israel’s soldiers.
“All Israeli hospitals have reported that a significant percentage of wounded soldiers have come back with serious antimicrobial-resistant infections that they’ve picked up through contact with contaminated soil, among other factors, said Prof. Nadav Davidovitch, an epidemiologist who heads Ben-Gurion University of the Negev’s School of Public Health….
“Antimicrobial-resistant infections have been a huge problem in Gaza for years, he said, because of the use of unsuitable antibiotics or patients’ failure to complete courses of treatment due to drug shortages.” That is, the lack of proper drugs and/or a proper supply of drugs is simply an example of the persistent poverty creating a breeding ground for disease.
Davidovitch explained that the conditions imposed upon Gazans “can potentially threaten the well-being of the hundreds of thousands of IDF troops fighting in Gaza. They can also ultimately spell trouble for public health in Israel. ‘Diseases don’t have borders. We need to take this situation seriously,’ said Davidovitch....
“Prof. Galia Rahav, head of Israel’s Infectious Disease Association... echoed Davidovitch” and “added that the existence of highly resistant bacteria in Gaza is well-documented... Gazan hospitals are hotbeds for these superbugs. Before the war, Gazan patients brought them to Israeli hospitals when they came for surgeries and treatments, sometimes causing serious outbreaks in wards.” The present fungus invasion is actually from a pre-Oct. 7 problem.
