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Migrant worker stricken with rabies
Health ministry orders family members of foreign caretaker's charges to receive vaccination, after rushing her to hospital in severe condition.
A migrant worker has been placed in an induced coma after being hospitalized with a severe case of rabies. Ynet was told on Friday the patient is being treated at the Sanz Medical Center in Netanya.
The woman worked as a caretaker for an elderly couple; the Health Ministry ordered family members who had come into physical contact with her or the couple to receive vaccinations.
The family members were furious with the ministry for not examining the migrant worker before she arrived to care for their seniors; it appears as if the woman had been infected with rabies in India.
The caretaker arrived in Israel to work for the handicapped couple in the Sharon area about one month ago. One of the family members told Ynet that 10 days ago "she complained she was not feeling ill, and told us she has been puking and suffering from a variety of symptions."
The family members rushed her to the hospital in Netanya for treatment. She was diagnosed as suffering from rabies, and her condition was declared as very severe while she was in a medically-induced coma and on life support.
"At first we didn't know what happened to her. Only yesterday, 10 days after she was hospitalized, did the health ministry call my dad and tell him that anyone who came in contact with her had to be vaccinated," said the son.
He said his father immediately went to receive the immunization and the family reached out to anyone who may have been in contact with the migrant worker. However, the family's request to the health ministry – to send a doctor to examine and immunize the handicapped couple – was denied.
