Health officials believe that the babies who were killed and injured at a daycare in Jerusalem’s Romema neighborhood most likely suffered from respiratory distress.
Blood tests and medical examinations of the affected children showed no evidence of carbon monoxide poisoning or infections. The suspicion is now that respiratory distress due to an environmental hazard at the site led to the deaths of two babies and the injury of dozens of other children.
All the toddlers who were earlier transferred to hospitals for examination and treatment will remain in the hospital for further observation.
According to Professor Yaniv Sherer, director of Hadassah-University Medical Center, so far, blood tests have not shown evidence of a pathogen or toxin.
"We will still have to wait for the end of the tests, but from what we have tested so far, it is not carbon monoxide as initially thought, and it is not an infectious disease,” Sherer told Maariv.
“As a center that has treated hundreds of measles patients, including infants and children, some in critical condition, we can say with certainty that the children did not die from measles, which behaves completely differently,” Sherer said, adding that “We can cautiously assume that this was a death that occurred quickly, probably from some kind of poisoning, with or without a combination of crowding, fever, or dehydration."
Sherer also noted that some of the babies who arrived at the hospital for treatment in ambulances also suffered from respiratory distress. "Some of them looked unwell, in respiratory distress, and they recovered after oxygen treatment," he said.
"This is further confirmation of the hypothesis that they were all exposed to something environmental. We treated them in a hospital with an oxygen chamber, in case it was indeed carbon monoxide poisoning, but the blood tests confirmed that it was not carbon monoxide. It is possible that it was another poisoning that cannot be measured, but the likelihood is that either way, it was something environmental there that led to the disaster."
MDA teams were called to the scene around noon
The disaster occurred on Monday when, at around 12:30 p.m., Magen David Adom received a call regarding a three-month-old baby girl who was found unconscious in a daycare in the Romema neighborhood of Jerusalem.
MDA teams rushed to the scene and immediately began performing CPR before evacuating the baby in critical condition to Shaare Zedek Medical Center.
During the treatment and evacuation, the teams were called back to the scene after another baby, about six months old, was found unconscious, without a pulse, and not breathing. MDA teams began prolonged CPR on the second baby and additionally evacuated him in critical condition to Hadassah-University Medical Center on Mount Scopus.
Following concerns for the safety of all the children still at the daycare, a large number of MDA medics were dispatched to the scene, including ambulances, intensive care vehicles, and emergency motorcycles.
The teams carried out comprehensive scans and medical examinations of all the babies and children present; 53 of them were fully conscious but evacuated for further examination and observation at the city's hospitals.
The children were evacuated to Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Hadassah-University Medical Center on Mount Scopus, and Hadassah-University Medical Center in Ein Kerem.
According to the information provided by the hospitals, 18 toddlers and infants of various ages were evacuated to Hadassah-University Medical Center in Ein Kerem, including one of the babies who died as a result of the incident. The remaining babies at Hadassah-University Medical Center in Ein Kerem were classified as being in mild condition and fully conscious and were hospitalized for observation.
Hadassah-University Medical Center on Mount Scopus received 26 infants and toddlers, including the other baby who died, but the rest were in mild condition.
Over 25 additional toddlers were brought to the Shaarei Tzedek Children's Hospital for treatment and observation.
All of the children remained hospitalized for observation due to the fact that the cause of death for the two has not yet been determined, and because some of the children were found to be suffering from respiratory distress.
Reinforced medical, nursing, social work, and administrative teams are providing care and assistance to children and families impacted by the daycare incident.
MDA responded to two similar, unrelated cases
As the Jerusalem daycare incident unfolded, two similarly serious cases were reported to have occurred at the same time.
In Safed, MDA teams were dispatched to treat a two-week-old baby who was found unconscious, without a pulse, and not breathing. She was evacuated in critical condition while undergoing CPR to Ziv Medical Center, and was later pronounced dead. The cause of death was unclear.
In a town in Hod Hasharon, MDA teams responded to a call about a three-week-old baby, who was also unconscious and without signs of life, and evacuated her in critical condition while undergoing CPR to Schneider Children’s Medical Center.