Israeli media reported that an Israeli soldier, who was part of the Israeli invasion of Gaza, died from a fungal infection in the Gaza Strip. About 10 other wounded soldiers also suffered from similar infections.
The Israeli Ynet news website said on Tuesday that the soldier had severe limb injuries from the battlefield and developed treatment-resistant fungi on his body. The website did not specify when he was injured or what kind of fungus he had.
The website, which is the online version of the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, added that the soldier was taken to Assuta Hospital in Ashdod (south), where doctors tried every possible treatment, including experimental ones from abroad. They also consulted with specialists, but the fungus eventually spread to the soldier’s organs and caused his death.
According to the Israeli media, the fungi might have come from soil contaminated with sewage. They said that several soldiers who returned from the battlefield had various fungal and bacterial infections. About 10 wounded soldiers had similar fungal infections, which could have been caused by the same source of contamination.
The Association for Infectious Diseases (AID) in Israel said that they found several drug-resistant pathogens in the soldiers’ limb injuries, including highly resistant strains of Klebsiella and Escherichia coli bacteria, and Aspergillus fungi.
Galia Rahav, the chairperson of the AID, said in media statements: “All hospitals report that soldiers have come back from the battlefield with resistant infections. It should be noted that many of the infections diagnosed among the wounded soldiers are also found occasionally in Israel, but they occur in people who have been exposed to these bacteria before, not in healthy individuals.”
She added: “The contact with the soil and mud there leads to exposure to such resistant bacteria and also to mold.”
