Fungal foot infections common among IDF soldiers returning from Gaza

Soldiers serving in Gaza are experiencing unusual infections, including severe foot fungus, Yedioth Ahronoth has reported.

Long campaigns with soldiers standing sometimes for hours at a time, and the compromised hygiene in Gaza have increased the risk of serious foot and leg conditions.

Medical staff report many reservists are suffering from painful lesions on the feet and legs.

Soldiers may not take off their shoes or change their socks for many days which also raises the risks of infections.

In addition, many soldiers in Gaza complain of gastrointestinal upset, food poisoning, and infections with resistant bacteria.

Dr. Hadas Ofer Friedman, director of the infectious skin disease clinic at Beilinson described the conditions of the soldiers she and her staff have treated.

“The soldiers return with an infection that, although not usually life-threatening, causes redness, itching, inflammation, and blisters.”

She added, “Warts on the feet can be very painful and impair the quality of life.”

Dr. Friedman urged soldiers with these conditions to seek treatment and not to rely only on creams or to wait for the condition to get better on its own.

“(These foot and leg problems) require treatment and usually do not go away on their own.”

“It can be hard to get rid of it with creams alone and when the situation is serious, you have to get a prescription for pills.”

Last week, an Israeli soldier died from an infection caused by a dangerous fungus in the Gaza soil.

Two weeks prior, he was transported to Assuta Ashdod Medical Center with severe infected wounds on his limbs.

After exhausting every available treatment method, even experimental ones from overseas, and consulting experts on such infections, the fungus proved resistant to the medications.

The infection spread to his vital organs and he died.

There are around 10 other soldiers who have been infected with the deadly strain in Gaza, according to Professor Galia Rahav, chairperson of the Infectious Diseases Association and former director of the Infectious Diseases Unit at Sheba Hospital.

One theory is that the fungus has grown and spread in Gaza soil contaminated by sewage and there is an investigation whether this is connected to Hamas’use of terror tunnels.