A six-year-old boy from a Chareidi family in Rechovot died on Friday morning after suffering severe complications from influenza A.

MDA paramedics evacuated the boy in critical condition to Kaplan Medical Center while carrying out advanced resuscitation techniques. The pediatric staff at the hospital continued resuscitation efforts for an extended period of time but ultimately were forced to declare his death.

His parents said that he only began having symptoms on Thursday, including fever and breathing difficulties.

Tests carried out at Kaplan found that the boy, who had been generally healthy with no underlying medical conditions, tested positive for influenza A and had not been vaccinated against the illness.

Dr. Shachar Oren, a senior physician in Kaplan’s pediatric emergency room, said that there has been a significant rise in influenza A cases in recent weeks. “This is a viral illness that causes high fever and respiratory symptoms and can lead to dangerous complications such as pneumonia and inflammation of the heart muscle,” he added.

He emphasized that winter has only just begun and urged the public to get vaccinated: “Vaccines are available at all medical centers and health clinics. Please, go get vaccinated.”

Israel’s flu season has struck earlier than anticipated and is proving more severe than last year, with rising illness rates reported across community clinics and hospitals in recent weeks. On Wednesday, a six‑year‑old boy died from influenza at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, despite having received the vaccine about a month beforehand. Just days earlier, a 10‑year‑old girl from Modi’in Illit passed away after being rushed to the hospital while undergoing resuscitation.

New data from Maccabi Healthcare Services, Israel’s second‑largest Kupat Cholim (health fund) with nearly three million members, reveal unusually high influenza figures for this stage of the year compared to last year, Ynet reported. In November, roughly 25% of PCR tests for respiratory viruses conducted at Maccabi clinics came back positive for influenza A. During the same period last year, only 5% of tests were positive, and fewer than 1% of children under 18 were affected.

“The flu has arrived much earlier this year,” said Dr. Shirly Shapira Ben‑David, head of infectious diseases at Maccabi. She emphasized that such figures are rare for November and likely underestimate the true scale of illness, since not every patient visiting a clinic undergoes PCR testing.

(YWN’s Jerusalem desk is keeping you updated after tzeis ha’Shabbos in Israel)