By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
A two-year-old girl suffering from kidney failure and irregular heartbeat died late Wednesday night at home - two days after receiving an H1N1 flu vaccination at Haifa's Rambam Medical Center. The Health Ministry said that "apparently there is no connection between her death and the shot."
According to the preliminary results of an autopsy performed at the L. Greenberg Forensic Institute at Abu Kabir on Thursday, her death apparently resulted from a complication of her kidney condition, and there was no evidence that it came from the vaccine. The ministry said the vaccine is "safe, meets all standards of safety and efficiency and is approved by the World Health Organization." It was the third case of an Israeli with chronic illness who died soon after being vaccinated against H1N1 flu.
Rambam's spokesman said the child underwent dialysis at the hospital a number of times a week.
"Even though there is apparently no connection between her death and the shot, hospital management gave instructions for an immediate investigation of what occurred before her death. We all hope the autopsy will help understand in depth what caused her passing." He expressed to the family the hospital's sorrow over the tragedy.
Meanwhile, three people with serious chronic diseases who were infected with H1N1 virus died on Thursday at Soroka University Medical Center in Beersheba. The first was a 79-year-old woman, the second a 71-year-old man, and the third a 52-year-old man. They were listed as the 53rd, 54th and 55th Israeli victims since April - even though in most cases, a connection between their flu and their deaths was not proven.
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