TY - JOUR PY - 2024// TI - Medical perspectives on Israeli children after their release from captivity - a retrospective study JO - Acta paediatrica A1 - Ziv, Noa A1 - Mozer-Glassberg, Yael A1 - Bron-Harlev, Efrat A1 - Goldberg, Lotem A1 - Niv, Omer A1 - Saar, Shirley A1 - Yaron, Shlomit A1 - Singer-Harel, Dana A1 - Eliakim-Raz, Noa A1 - Fennig, Silvana A1 - Livni, Gilat A1 - Yarden-Bilavsky, Havatzelet SP - ePub EP - ePub VL - ePub IS - ePub N2 - AIM: Following the Hamas terror attack on Israeli towns on October 2023, 250 individuals were taken into captivity. On November-December 2023, during the cease-fire deal, 26 women and children were released. This study is the first to describe the physical and behavioural findings in children and their mothers in the immediate phase of returning home from captivity.

METHODS: This is a retrospective study describing the clinical characteristics of the returnees after 49-53 days in captivity. Patients were admitted to a designated unit in the Schnieder Children's Medical Center of Israel on November-December 2023. The hospitalisation duration was 1-9 days. All patients were evaluated according to a detailed protocol and were treated respectively.

RESULTS: Patient population included 19 children (ranged 2-18 years old) and 7 women (ranged 34-78 years old). The most common clinical findings upon return included significant weight loss, psychological trauma, complications of poor hygiene and complications of recent shrapnel injuries. Microbiology tests were positive for multiple gastrointestinal pathogens. Serologic screening tests were positive for various infectious diseases.

CONCLUSION: Clinical findings in this time period were diverse and required the attention of a multidisciplinary team. Long term clinical and psychological effects are yet to be known.

Language: en

LA - en SN - 0803-5253 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/apa.17355 ID - ref1 ER -