Disengagement does not apply to bacteria: A high carriage rate of antibiotic-resistant pathogens among Syrian civilians treated in Israeli hospitals

摘要

Three years of civil war in Syria have caused the deaths of >100 000 people including 11 000 children, with many more wounded [1]. The healthcare system in Syria is severely compromised and polio cases have been detected [2, 3]. Soon after the 1973 war, Syria and Israel signed an agreement on disengagement; no formal relations exist between the 2 countries. Despite the disengagement, the Israeli army has been providing humanitarian aid to wounded Syrian civilians by emergency medical care in a field hospital near the border and by transferring wounded civilians for medical care in northern Israeli hospitals. Due to incomplete medical history of the Syrian patients and polio in Syria, contact isolation and screening cultures for multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria are conducted upon their admission to Israeli hospitals. Here we report a high carriage rate of MDR pathogens among Syrian patients treated in 2 Israeli hospitals, Baruch Padeh Medical Center in Poriya and Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya.