3-Year-Old Dies at Ichilov Hospital Amid Suspected Meningococcal Infection

A 3-year-old boy died Saturday morning at Dana Children’s Hospital at Ichilov in Tel Aviv after being brought to the emergency department in infectious shock with a clinical suspicion of meningococcemia. The hospital said a vaccine against meningococcus B exists and urged parents to immunize infants and toddlers, saying, "We call on the public to vaccinate babies and young children and save lives."

Meningococcus, or Neisseria meningitidis, can cause meningitis, bloodstream infection and other severe illnesses. It spreads through respiratory secretions from an infected person or a carrier, and while some carriers have the bacterium in the nose and throat without invasive disease, it can enter the bloodstream and become life-threatening within hours. With treatment, mortality is 5% to 10%; without it, death rates can reach 50%. Survivors may suffer neurological complications, including developmental delay, paralysis and deafness.

In Israel, the most common strain is B, while A, C, Y and W135 are rare. The B vaccine, Bexsero, is not part of the routine childhood immunization schedule, but the Health Ministry and the Israel Pediatric Association recommend it for all children up to age 2 alongside standard vaccines. It is available only through supplemental insurance, at a cost of several hundred shekels per dose, for a total of three doses.

Bexsero was submitted this year for the seventh time to the health basket committee, but was again rejected. Most committee members said its impact was too limited for its high estimated cost of about 63 million shekels. Opponents argued that meningitis can stem from causes unrelated to meningococcus and that the vaccine protects only against strain B. According to Health Ministry data, 56 meningococcal cases were recorded across all ages in 2025, including only eight cases of strain B and two deaths from other strains.