Is Israel Approaching Herd Immunity?

  By Paul Shindman, World Israel News

A new study conducted by Ben Gurion University predicts Israel will reach a state of herd immunity against the coronavirus in the coming weeks, Hamodia reported Sunday.

Herd immunity occurs when a high enough percentage of the population has already contracted a disease and recovered from it, giving them enough antibodies in their systems so that the rate of new infections drops as more people gain immunity.

Prof. Mark Last of Ben Gurion University is not a doctor of medicine, but instead is an expert in the field of “medical informatics,” using the power of computer and information science to optimize medical care.

Last says his analysis shows that Israel’s coronavirus infection rate is about to decline. According to his figures, another national lockdown is not necessary if the government maintains current restrictions and no new major outbreaks occur from changes like the opening of the school year this week.

 “If there is no unusual outbreak because of the return to school or the [upcoming Jewish holidays], then the infection rate will start dropping,” Last said. “According to my calculations, we need 1.16 million people with antibodies in order to achieve herd immunity and we are very close to that number,” he said.

In June, the first serological survey showed that the national infection rate then was 2.5 percent indicating some 200,000 Israelis had been infected at the time, but most had few or no symptoms. Since then another 86,000 Israelis have tested positive, most likely exposing several hundred thousand more Israelis to the disease.

Last says his model analyzed the available data and he predicts that the infection rate that peaked before the weekend at just over 2,000 confirmed cases a day will start to go down sometime in the second half of September.

“We cannot know the actual number of cases of infection unless we test the entire population every day,” Last said. “Initial serological tests indicate the ratio of confirmed cases to actual cases is about 1 to 10. Using those numbers, we now have slightly above one million people with antibodies in Israel and we need at least 1.2 million.”

Last is in agreement with government officials who say that another lockdown is not needed because social distancing and the gathering herd immunity will soon produce a reduction in the infection rate.

“We are heading in the right direction, but it is important not to relax our restrictions or get overconfident,” Last warned, estimating by the end of September an additional 500 Israelis will likely die from the virus and bring the death toll up to 1,400.

Cutting your Nose to Spite your Face

PA Denies Sick Palestinians Treatment to Pay Benefits to Terrorists

http://www.thetower.org/7413-pa-denies-sick-palestinians-treatment-to-pay-full-benefits-to-terrorists/

The Palestinian Authority has decided to penalize Palestinian civilians in need of medical assistance to avoid cutting salaries of Palestinian terrorists and their families under the so-called “pay-to-slay” scheme, which led the United States and Israel to cut aid until the PA stops inciting terror.

Explaining the decision, PA Ministry of Health Spokesman Osama Al-Najjar said: “The decision is political par excellence and comes in response to Israel deducting sums from the money that it collects for us.”

Israel’s Diplomatic-Security Cabinet decided in February to implement a major slash in the tax revenues that Israel collects on behalf of the PA, with the amount the PA pays to terrorists and their families to be deducted from the aid Israel hands over to the Palestinian leadership. The PA paid out some 502 million shekels ($138 million) to living terrorists in 2018, according to recent Israeli media reports.

The PA is using those cuts as an excuse to no longer permit Palestinians to travel for medical treatment in Israel — which costs the PA $100 million a year — while still paying in full the salaries to both imprisoned and released terrorists, as well as the allowances to wounded terrorists and the families of dead terrorists.

The decision comes on the heels of the PA’s decision to cut the salaries of civil servants, 40 percent of which earn less than 2,000 shekels per month (about $535). It demonstrates the reality that under the so-called “pay-to-slay” scheme, Palestinians terrorists who have been in prison for a cumulative period of three years earn higher salaries than 40 percent of the PA’s law-abiding public employees.

Additionally, in February, in response to the Israeli law, the PA said that it would not accept tax payments from Israel. PA President Mahmoud Abbas said at the time, “I tell you honestly that if we only had 20 or 30 million shekels, which is what is paid [monthly] to families of martyrs, we will give them to the families of martyrs. I mean if the [Palestinian] Authority doesn’t have anything other than that [amount], I will pay it to the families of martyrs and prisoners and wounded persons. This needs to be understood.”

Last year, PA President Mahmoud Abbas swore he would make paying terrorists a top priority. “By Allah, even if we have only a penny left it will only be spent on the families of the martyrs and prisoners and only afterward will it be spent on the rest of the people,” Abbas vowed.

Hope for the Future

Thanks to Israel the body no longer has to reject a donor organ!

Israel has given so many people hope for the future. 25% of kidney recipients and 40% of heart recipients have some type of acute rejection within the first year after a transplant. That is not a small percentage.

But with Israel’s new breakthrough, these patients no longer have to experience that!

Professor Tal Dvir of Tel Aviv University’s Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology and Sagol Center for Regenerative Biotechnology said, “With our technology, we can engineer any tissue type, and after transplantation, we can efficiently regenerate any diseased or injured organ.”

Can you believe that a country that has existed for under 100 years has had such a medical breakthrough?

It is time the world starts showing appreciation for Israel. The tiny, tiny Jewish state surrounded by enemies has become a place for everyone to turn to. They have helped Jews and non-Jews alike with their inventions, innovations, breakthroughs, and volunteer work.

Despite needing to put so much time and energy into security, fighting against the media bias, and fighting the word’s bias, Israel still manages to create things for the world that save lives, change lives, and overall improve lives.

So, it is time to stop benefiting from Israel when you also fight against them.

It is time to just say thank you.

MDA Creates Breast Milk Bank

While Magen David Adom is Israel's national blood bank, in charge of collecting, testing, and processing 97% of Israel's blood each year, MDA will be soon opening a breast milk bank to allow nursing mothers to donate surplus milk for babies who do not have access to it. Science has shown that breast milk protects babies from disease and helps build the immune system better than artificial formula.

Similar to the processing of blood donations, MDA will test and analyze the milk before being pasteurized and stored for future distribution.

Creating a milk bank is another way Magen David Adom is helping ensure Israel's future stays healthy and strong. 

Life-Changing Technologies from Israel

These revolutionary cutting-edge Israeli technologies are removing some of the barriers faced by people with disabilities to extraordinary lengths.

World’s First Innovation Lab For Healthy Aging

by Judy Siegel-Itzkovich   December 27, 2017

A novel state-of-the-art lab will re-create the living conditions of the elderly to improve their mental and physical health.

The world’s first innovation lab for healthy aging has been established in Beersheba. The lab, which will simulate the living environment of senior citizens in the future, will take on the increasingly complex challenges of today’s aging population.

According to World Bank data, the proportion of the world’s population over the age of 65 increased from 5% in 1960 to 8.5% in 2015.

The lab is a collaboration between the Center for Digital Innovation, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, the National Insurance Institute, the Beersheba Municipality, the Joint Distribution Committee and the Amal & Beyond Group. CDI is located in the Advanced Technologies Park adjacent to the university, whose president, Prof. Rivka Carmi, serves as chairwoman of the nonprofit lab’s board.

 “In 10 years, Beersheba will become the center of senior citizen-focused research and innovation,” CDI founder & CEO Ziv Ofek said at the launch of the lab last week. “When I think about this lab, I think about my parents and the real challenges they face. Instead of looking for merely technological solutions, we went back to analyze the problem. We developed a 360-degree approach that looks at all aspects of a senior’s life. When we founded CDI, we chose the fields of health care, social welfare, education and smart cities to specialize in. In this lab, we are combining all of them.”

Ofek and his team realized that senior citizens’ diverse needs, ambitions and activities cannot be considered separately. Rather, they are all linked, and only an innovative approach that takes all of these elements into consideration has a chance of making a real and significant change in the lives of senior citizens.

Among the main challenges are preventing falls, alleviating loneliness, slowing the deterioration of those whose capabilities are already limited, treating pain, and developing new technologies to assist the aging in basic domestic activities like bathing and using the toilet.

Read here the full article  

Did You Know That.....

Did you know that throughout 2016, over 30,000 people from the Gaza Strip received medical treatment in Israel? Or that over 7,000 tons of medical supplies were transferred to hospitals and clinics in the Gaza Strip? And what about the emergency ambulances that are on-call 24 hours, 7 days a week at Erez Crossing? These are just a few of the many activities of the Health Coordinator Department at the Gaza CLA (Coordination and Liason Activities).

In accordance with Oslo Accord's initiated in the 1990’s, responsibility for healthcare lies with the Palestinian Authority. However, the healthcare system inside the Gaza Strip is very limited and overburdened as a result of Hamas control. As a result, the Health Coordinator at the Gaza CLA is a critical partner for assisting Gazan patients to get treatment inside Israel, Judea and Samaria or elsewhere.  In order to ensure treatment for these patients, the Health Coordination Department works with the Israeli Ministry of Health and representatives of the Palestinian Authority in the Gaza Strip, as well as collaborating with hospitals in Israel and the World Health Organization (WHO).

In addition, this department facilitates health professionals from Gaza to attend industry conferences and seminars. This educational participation is designed to keep them current on up-and-coming medical advancements in order to contribute to the healthcare system in the Gaza Strip. In 2016, 275 medical professionals from Gaza received visas to participate in medical workshops and seminars in Israel.

It is unfortunate that Hamas target those civilians most in need, but they do. There has been a rise in fraudulent applications for medical permits as part of Hamas's ongoing efforts to harm the security of the State of Israel. Consequently, in order to ensure that medical permits are given to civilians with real medical needs, the Health Office works with the different security agencies to verify the legitimacy of every request.

Rambam Doctors Operate On Children In Georgia

Doctors from Haifa’s Rambam Medical Center have become self-appointed ambassadors of good will in the Republic of Georgia. Twice a year for the past five years, they have traveled to capital city of Tbilisi to perform operations on local youngsters with serious congenital defects, making Georgia’s President Giorgi Margvelashvili the number-one supporter of the project.

The help is needed because local doctors don’t have the expertise to treat the children, or they have previously tried and failed, explained Dr. Ran Steinberg, director of the pediatric surgery department at Rambam’s Ruth Rappaport Children’s Hospital, who heads the Rambam team.

“On the first day of our arrival, we examine the cases and order all the necessary tests. In the days that remain, we operate for many hours in two parallel operating rooms on as many children as possible. These are complex and sometimes very challenging cases, but the intention is to help as many children as possible while we are there.”

Over the years, the Rambam team has amassed a fairly large group of patients at the Georgian hospital. In addition to operating, they take advantage of the visits to examine former patients and monitor their condition.

“The relationship with the Georgian team has been ongoing throughout the year in consultations about patients we treated, as well as for new patients,” Steinberg said. “The fact that we are in an ongoing partnership with the medical staff in Tbilisi has many benefits in terms of patient care. It can be said that this is really an extension of Rambam in Georgia.”

One team member, Dr. Arkadi Vachian, director of the minimally invasive surgery unit at Rambam’s children’s hospital, was born and raised in Tbilisi and came to Israel many years ago as a young doctor. He finds the return to Georgia, where he has the opportunity to perform surgery and train local doctors, a very satisfying emotional experience.

The government of Georgia initiated cooperation between Rambam and Givi Zhvania, the pediatric hospital in Tbilisi, to facilitate the program.

About two years ago, the Israeli doctors were invited to the President’s palace for an official visit. Since then, they have also met with the Georgian health minister and with Israeli Ambassador to Georgia Shabtai Tsur, who once thanked the doctors inside an operating room.

For article go to http://www.jpost.com/HEALTH-SCIENCE/Rambam-doctors-operate-on-children-in-Georgia-514601 

Free Yad Sarah device calls for help when subscriber falls

Yad Sarah, the largest voluntary organization in Israel, provides a spectrum of free or nominal cost services designed to make life easier for sick, disabled and elderly people and their families.

Today, more than four decades after it was founded, Yad Sarah has more than 100 branches throughout Israel run by more than 6,000 volunteers, and saves the Israeli economy several hundred million dollars per year in hospitalization and medical costs.

Yad Sarah's mission is to keep the ill and the elderly in their homes and out of institutions as long as possible. Home care in the natural environment of the family is most conducive to healthy recuperation, both physically and emotionally. It also costs much less.

Yad Sarah's best-known service is the lending of medical and rehabilitative equipment on a short-term basis free of charge to anyone who needs it from a stock of thousands of items, from crutches and wheelchairs to oxygen concentrators and electronic monitors.

Now an emergency device that sounds an alert at Yad Sarah when an elderly person falls and calls for medical help has been introduced by the voluntary organization.

A hip fracture in the elderly has to be repaired surgically within 48 hours or it can lead to complications and even death.

The inexpensive smart device will soon be available free at all of Yad Sarah’s 103 branches.

Developed in China, it is an upgrade of the emergency beeper worn like a watch on the wrist that calls Yad Sarah for help.

The button on the device doesn’t even have to be pressed; it senses when the wearer has lost his balance and fallen, said Yad Sarah founder and president and former Jerusalem mayor Uri Lupolianski, who set up the organization exactly 40 years ago when he sent a neighbor a steam vaporizer.

The disabled and elderly who live alone need only register for the emergency beeper service and receive the device. If they fall or call for help, Yad Sarah’s emergency center manned round the clock, seven days a week will respond according to the data about the subscriber that appear on their computer screens.

The lightweight wireless device connects to the regular home phone line and is suited to all telephone companies. It issues a signal if the phone line or electric cable have been disconnected. It has been approved by the Israel Standards Institution and the Communications Ministry.

It works on batteries in the event of a power failure and is water resistant.

A Caring Volunteer - Welcome Home Peter

 Aleh Hanegev is an amazing place dealing with people of varying disabilities. It is not surprising to hear of volunteers who fall in love with the place.

Read how one volunteer developed close bonds and decided to make his home in Israel

Welcome Home, Peter!

For Peter from Switzerland, Israel and ALEH Negev are now home.

Peter Paul Brockhausen arrived at ALEH Negev-Nahalat Eran from Switzerland 2 years ago on a 3-month joint volunteer program with the Christians for Israel Foundation. Peter, a Dutch citizen, is manager of a hotel in Switzerland.

From his first day at the Village, Peter took an immediate and intense liking to the residents. Quite quickly, he developed an inexplicably close bond with the Land of Israel. His feelings ran so deep that the second time he returned to volunteer, he decided to investigate his ancestry. To his amazement, he traced his lineage a few generations back until he discovered unquestionably Jewish roots.

Peter’s involvement in ALEH Negev led him to open a Dutch-language Facebook page to publicize the activities of ALEH Negev, at the same time advocating on behalf of Israel.  During the course of Operation Protective Edge, Peter posted pro-Israel messages on Facebook and described life at ALEH Negev in the shadow of war.

Returning for a third volunteer program at the Village, Peter began the process of conversion through the Israeli rabbinate. Now back in Israel for a fourth stint, he has received his Israeli ID and is in the midst of the Aliya process.

As one of ALEH Negev’s most dedicated volunteers, Peter has learned the professional language used by the Village staff, forged bonds of trust and friendship with the residents, and integrated into the work and development programs with the Village residents.

Now as a full-fledged citizen, Peter has set to the task of learning Hebrew, at the same time continuing his volunteer work on behalf of ALEH. Upon completion of the Aliya process, he will become an official employee of ALEH Negev.

Peter is certainly one-of-a-kind and deserves all the credit that he has earned!

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Healthier Tomatoes and More of Them

Currently, more than one out of every ten tomatoes, cucumbers, melons, okra plants, potatoes, and many more species never make it out of the field – completely destroyed by nematodes, also known as ringworms. And much of the rest of an infected crop is too damaged to sell.

These bugs have been the bane of farmers around the world, but a new solution from Israeli company Adama Agricultural Solutions could end their reign of agri-terror. NIMITZ, Adama’s brand name for a nematicide (nematode killer) based on a newly-discovered molecule called fluensulfone, will get rid of the most common nematodes without the use of heavy chemicals that have been the mainstay of nematicides, the company says.

Adama said NIMITZ has the potential to be a game changer for farmers.

Adama said that studies conducted over the past six years in 21 countries prove its product, the first new nematicide introduced anywhere in the past 20 years, is less hazardous to the environment than other solution. Israel, Australia, Europe, and many US states have approved NIMITZ for use in commercial growing settings.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved Nimitz last September, saying that there were no carcinogenic or other negative effects from NIMITZ.

Most of the product will be manufactured at a new manufacturing facility in Neot Hovav in southern Israel.

Unlike insects, nematodes – of which scientists believe there are over 1 million types, 25,000 of them known – are often invisible to the naked eye, making it difficult for farmers to know that they have even been attacked until it is too late. Nematodes are parasites that live off the fruits and vegetables humans rely on for food. Last year, they caused growers an estimated annual yield loss of more than $100 billion worldwide. Tests show that NIMITZ can improve crop yields by as much as 30%, and the company expects that figure to rise as the product is further developed.

Unlike nematicides currently in use, which can do no more than freeze the behavior of the bugs while they are exposed to the chemicals, NIMITZ actually kills them, the EPA found. It also is quickly washed away by rain or irrigation when its job is done, and is nontoxic to food and water ecosystems. Within 1 hour of contact, target nematodes cease feeding and quickly become paralyzed, dying altogether within 24-72 hours of application. And it affects only nematodes, with no effect on plants, animals, or other organisms in an environment.

 “Over many years of intensive development and testing, whether in the lab, in greenhouses, field trials or semi-commercial trials, NIMITZ has consistently shown that it is a better nematicide than other commercially available products.” NIMITZ", a spokesman added, “combines simplicity of use together with increased efficacy in an economical solution to a major global pest for farmers.”