Last update - 00:00 09/05/2007
Toddler tested for polio after exam reveals suspicious virus
By Yuval Azulai, Haaretz Correspondent
The Health Ministry is investigating suspicions that a two-year-old Kiryat Bialik toddler is carrying the Polio virus.
The toddler was hospitalized with stomach problems at a Haifa hospital several weeks ago. Although she was discharged after test results revealed that she was suffering from Salmonella, a virus strand suspected of being polio was also isolated from the test samples.
The toddler underwent lab tests to determine whether she is infected with the virus strand that causes infantile paralysis. The conclusive test results will be obtained early next week.
Medical sources said Wednesday that the infant is not in danger of contracting the disease because she had been vaccinated against polio four times.
Stool samples were collected from other children at the toddler's daycare center in Kiryat Bialik, and the children's' vaccination charts were inspected.
The last case of polio in Israel was recorded in 1988. 94% of the children in Israel have been inoculated against the disease.