OH NO

Israeli Flight Attendant Slips Into Coma After Contracting Measles

A doctor reportedly said she’s been in a “deep coma for 10 days.”

An Israeli flight attendant has slipped into a coma after contracting measles, CNN reports. The 43-year-old employee of El Al—Israel’s national airline—has an inflamed brain, which is known to be a potentially deadly complication from measles. The woman is thought to have contracted the virus in New York, in Israel, or on a flight between the two countries. “She’s been in a deep coma for 10 days, and we’re now just hoping for the best,” Dr. Itamar Grotto, associate director general of Israel’s Ministry of Health, told the network. She was reportedly admitted to the hospital on March 31 with a fever, and now can only breathe with the help of a respirator. Officials reportedly do not believe she spread the virus to passengers on the flights. According to CNN, authorities believe the woman did get a measles vaccine as a child but believe she got sick due to the vaccine’s imperfect effectiveness. There were over 3,000 cases of measles in Israel between March 2018 and April 2019, and 1,000 cases in the U.S. over the same time period.

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