IDF: Dozens of soldiers lied about contracting skin disease
One week after some 200 soldiers from the Armored Corps were sent home after complaining that they were suffering from severe itching, IDF concludes many lied, promises they will be 'punished by commanders.'
Last week the Medical Corps was thrust into a state of panic when 200 soldiers were sent home with apparent skin lesions which they claimed to have sustained as a result of a contagious disease that had apparently spread to other southern bases.
According to the checks conducted by the IDF, the soldiers were suffering from a rare disease known as Impetigo and at least 65 were sent home on sick leave. The soldiers received medical treatment and at the same time, laboratory tests were conducted in the Medical Corps.
However, it quickly became apparent that some of the soldiers had deliberately lied and that the number of those infected with the disease was far smaller than originally estimated.
“As part of the treatment of the skin phenomenon at Shizafon, it has become apparent that a large number of the soldiers made false reports,” an IDF statement said. “This behavior is inconsistent with what is expected of IDF soldiers and therefore they will be disciplined by their commanders. All the sick soldiers suffering from Impetigo have been treated and their training has resumed as usual.”
As a result of the unusually high number of soldiers complaining that they were suffering from extreme itching, the IDF’s Medical Corps was forced to implement emergency procedures which included bringing a helicopter filled with physicians to the southern base to treat the soldiers allegedly suffering from the contagious disease.
