Israel Ministry of Health

About: Israel Ministry of Health is a government organization based out in Jerusalem, Israel. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Public health. The organization has 1633 authors who have published 2108 publications receiving 65387 citations.

Incidence of cutaneous malignant melanoma in Israel, 1960-1989.

Abstract: BACKGROUND The cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM) incidence rate in most affluent countries has increased over the last three or four decades. Despite specific attention, evidence for a role of factors other than sun and ultraviolet exposure is weak. OBJECTIVE To update time trends of CMM in Israel. METHOD A population-based cancer registry data base of CMM among Jews and non-Jews by age and gender was analyzed. A quality control survey was conducted to insure complete coverage and data validation for the period 1960-1989. RESULTS The incidence rate of CMM in All Jews increased throughout the study period, with a monotonic annual increase of 4.8% for males and 4.3% for females. There was a steep increase in incidence until the mid-1970s, with an a posteriori levelling-off. Also, incidence was higher in females than in males. There were variations in incidence among Jewish subpopulations. Israel-born Jews are the highest incidence subgroup (average age-adjusted incidence rate (AAIR) 7.8 and 9.4 per 100,000 for males and females, respectively), followed by Jews born in Europe and America (AAIR, 6.1 and 7.3 per 100,000 for males and females, respectively). The lowest rate was for Jews born in Africa and Asia (AAIR, 1.3 per 100,000 for both males and females). Analysis of age-truncated rates reveals that Jews born in Europe, America, and Israel, mainly at age 45-64, have increasing CMM incidence. Non-Jews have a stable rate which could either be real or an artifact of underdiagnosis. CONCLUSIONS The different time trend incidence patterns between subpopulations could be due to differing cumulative sun exposure over the last 40-50 years, mainly in those at age 45 and over. The levelling-off of the invasive CMM incidence rate, mainly in native Israeli Jews under age 45, could be attributed to increasing awareness and early diagnosis.

Should Israel screen all mothers-to-be to prevent early-onset of neonatal group B streptococcal disease? A cost-utility analysis

Abstract: In Israel, an average of 37 children are born each year with sepsis and another four with meningitis as a result of Group B Streptococcal (GBS) disease. Israel currently only screens mothers with defined risk factors (around 15% of all pregnancies) in order to identify candidates for Intrapartum Antiobiotic Prophyhlaxis (IAP) of GBS. This paper presents a cost-utility analysis of implementing an alternative strategy, which would expand the current protocol to one aiming to screen all pregnant women at 35–37 weeks gestation based on taking a vaginal culture for GBS. A spreadsheet model was built incorporating technical, epidemiological, health service costs, demographic and economic data based primarily on Israeli sources. The intervention of universal screening (compared with the current scenario) would increase screening costs from 580,000 NIS to 3,278,000 million NIS. In addition, the intervention would also increase penicillin costs from 39,000 NIS to 221,000 NIS. Current culture screening of approximately 15% of mothers-to-be with high risk factors resulted in 42 GBS births in 2008-9 (0.253/1000 births). Expanding culture screening to 85% of mothers-to-be, will decrease the number of GBS births to 17.3 (0.104/1000 births). The initial 2.9 million NIS incremental intervention costs are offset by decreased treatment costs of 1.9 million NIS and work productivity gains of 811,000 NIS as a result of a decrease in neurological sequelae from GBS caused meningitis. Thus the resultant net cost of the intervention is only around 134,000 NIS. Culture based screening will reduce the burden of disease by 12.6 discounted Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALYS), giving a very cost effective baseline incremental cost per QALY (cf. risk factor screening) of 10,641 NIS per QALY. The data was very sensitive to rates of anaphylactic shock and changes in the percentage of meningitis cases that had associated long term-sequelae. It is recommended that Israel adopt universal culture-based GBS screening.

Highly Sensitive and Specific Zika Virus Serological Assays Using a Magnetic Modulation Biosensing System

Abstract: Background Zika virus has created global alarm because it has been associated with catastrophic fetal abnormalities, including microcephaly, spontaneous abortion, and intrauterine growth restriction. Current serological assays that detect antiviral antibodies suffer from low sensitivity and high cross-reactivity among different flaviviruses. Methods In this study, utilizing a novel magnetic modulation biosensing (MMB) system and the Zika nonstructural 1 protein, we show highly sensitive and specific Zika serological assays. We blindly tested 60 reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction Zika-positive samples and healthy patients' serum samples, as well as 44 serum samples from enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) West Nile- and dengue-positive patients. The Zika-positive samples were collected from Israeli travelers returning from Zika-endemic areas. Results The MMB Zika assays have 88%-97% sensitivity, much higher than the current state-of-the-art EUROIMMUN ELISA assays (38%-74%). In addition, the specificity is 100%, and the cross-reactivity with West Nile and dengue viruses is minimal (0%-4%). Furthermore, the MMB assays detected Zika IgM antibodies as early as 5 days and as late as 180 days postsymptoms onset, significantly extending the number of days that the antibodies are detectable. Conclusions The sensitivity, specificity, and simplicity of the MMB assays may significantly improve Zika diagnosis and provide accurate results for public health agencies.