Assuta Ashdod Says Teen Is Recovering After Life-Threatening Flu Complications

Assuta Ashdod disclosed on November 3 that a 17-year-old hospitalized with life-threatening influenza complications is recovering after about a week in pediatric intensive care. She is awake, eating independently and beginning to walk, shortly before her eighteenth birthday. She has been taken off invasive mechanical ventilation but still needs some respiratory support and continued treatment. The teenager had no underlying illnesses and had not yet received this season’s flu vaccination. Her illness developed into pneumonia and a severe infection, with rapid respiratory deterioration and dangerously low blood pressure. The team treated her with sedation, mechanical ventilation and medication to support her blood pressure, alongside respiratory physiotherapy and equipment to help her breathe and cough. Her blood pressure improved first, followed by her breathing, allowing clinicians to wake her and remove the invasive ventilation. Dr. Noa Rosenfeld, director of pediatric intensive care, credited the combined work of the medical and nursing teams. She warned that influenza can become dangerous even for children and teenagers who are otherwise healthy. The patient’s father, who requested anonymity, thanked the staff and said the family generally vaccinates but had not yet done so this year. The next stage is continued physiotherapy and respiratory rehabilitation. A transfer out of intensive care depends on further improvement; the reported progress does not yet amount to discharge or the end of respiratory care.