Two-Year-Old Netivot Boy Dies After Sudden Meningococcal Infection, Mother Launches Vaccination Campaign

Two-year-old Elai Meir Gabay of Netivot died at Soroka Medical Center about 26 hours after developing what first seemed like a routine fever. His mother, Reut Gabay, said he was previously healthy and had no background illnesses, but within a day he deteriorated rapidly from meningococcal infection, leaving his family little time to process what was happening.

According to Gabay, the illness began Sunday evening when Elai had a normal fever and went back to sleep after taking Nurofen. By Monday morning he was still eating and drinking, but later he became pale and quieter. At 11:00, his father noticed a small bruise-like mark on his arm, photographed it and sent it to Reut, who was at her army base. A clinic doctor immediately told him, “Get in the car and rush to the emergency room.”

At Soroka, doctors found bruising across his face and body, including his arms and forehead. Seven doctors surrounded him within four minutes, suspecting a severe bloodstream infection. He was still conscious at that stage, but half an hour later in intensive care he underwent his first resuscitation. Reut said physicians explained that the aggressive bacterium likely developed after exposure to influenza, and that by then it had already caused widespread damage. By Tuesday afternoon his condition worsened again, his organs failed, and after another resuscitation attempt the team told the parents, “I’m sorry, we did everything.”

Gabay said the family, which also includes 9-year-old twins Liam and Lin, had waited years before having Elai, whom they saw as a child meant to “wake up the house.” She now says she will fight to raise awareness of meningococcal disease and to get the vaccine included in Israel’s health basket. “My child went בגלל שטות,” she said, blaming budget priorities and saying parents should know there is a vaccine not covered in routine care. “Go get vaccinated,” she urged.

In the article’s medical explainer, Prof. Israel Futsman of Maccabi Healthcare Services said meningococcus is one of the main causes of meningitis and can also cause sepsis, which has a mortality rate of about 30%. He said warning signs include high fever, chills, headache, vomiting, loss of consciousness and especially blue spots or subcutaneous bleeding, and stressed that any delay in treatment increases the risk of death. The Ministry of Health and the Israel Pediatric Association recommend vaccinating all children against meningococcal B, especially infants and toddlers from two months to age two, but the vaccine is not part of routine child immunizations.