Israel’s Health Ministry reported on Sunday that a 7-year-old boy from Jerusalem passed away on Shabbos after contracting measles.

He passed away after arriving at the emergency room due to complications from the disease.

According to the statement, the child, who had an underlying medical condition, had received one dose of the measles vaccine.

This is the ninth death since the measles outbreak began. Until now, all fatal cases were healthy toddlers with no underlying conditions who were unvaccinated.

There are currently 16 hospitalized measles patients, of whom eight are being treated in intensive care.

The areas in Israel that are currently categorized as outbreak zones are Jerusalem, Beit Shemesh, Bnei Brak, Harish, Modiin Illit, Nof HaGalil, Kiryat Gat, Ashdod, Tzfat, Netivot, the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council, and the yishuv of Tekoa.

The ministry’s vaccine recommendations:

• All children should be vaccinated at ages 1 and 6 (as part of the routine vaccination schedule).
• In outbreak areas: advance the second dose to age 1.5.
• An additional vaccine dose is recommended for infants aged 6–11 months in outbreak areas and for those traveling to places with outbreaks.

The Health Ministry recommends that unvaccinated individuals, as well as parents of infants aged six to eleven months who have received only one dose, avoid attending large gatherings in outbreak cities due to the risk of infection.

The ministry stated that “thanks to the ministry’s efforts to increase vaccination coverage, since September—compared to the same period last year—Jerusalem has seen a 500% increase in vaccinations, and Beit Shemesh an even higher rise of 630%.”

“First-dose vaccination coverage (ages 1–6) against measles in Jerusalem rose from 77% to 84%, and in Beit Shemesh from 72% to 82.6%.”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)