Deputy Health Minister Litzman gets flu shot
Deputy Health Minister Litzman gets flu shotIsrael news photo: Flash 90

Despite mild weather most days, and even people still on the beach, autumn in here and winter approaches. Flu season has arrived.

Two cases have already been officially reported in the central city of Modi'in, according to Israel's Health Ministry's Israel Center for Disease Control (ICDC), a division of the ministry.

Two children, a three-year-old boy and a four-year-old girl, were both identified as having the virus.

The two children are unrelated and both are from families who are residents of Modi'in. Since neither has recently returned from a trip abroad, it is most likely they both caught the virus in Israel, ministry officials said.

Their samples were among 48 samples of patients identified as “flu suspects” that were recently transferred to the Health Ministry's central laboratory.

Free immunizations are available at local kupat holim health maintenance organization (HMO) clinics. All citizens are urged to get their vaccinations before the winter sets in, ministry officials said.