child in hospital (illustration)
child in hospital (illustration)ISTOCK

A two-year-old boy from a Chabad daycare in the city of Limassol in Cyprus died last night after contracting a fever and a rash from a suspected meningococcal bacteria.

Other children in the kindergarten also contracted a fever, including another two-year-old girl whose condition is severe and will be flown to Sheba Hospital in Tel Hashomer this evening.

The Foreign Ministry said that the family of the deceased child lives in southern Israel.

"In Israel, there are about 50 cases of meningococcal infection that can cause serious illness and even death to children and young people," Prof. Eyal Leshem of Sheba Tel Hashomer Hospital told Channel 12 News.

He said, "Currently there is a vaccine against meningococcus, but it is not given as part of the routine vaccinations, but as part of the complementary health services and for every soldier who enlists in the IDF. From the moment of infection, an epidemiological investigation is conducted to see who was exposed to the patients and those exposed are given antibiotic treatment to prevent disease."