Flu season starts earlier than usual

December 1, 2017

Tokyo- Japan has entered the influenza season slightly earlier than usual years, the health ministry said Friday.

In the week through Sunday, the average number of flu patients at some 5,000 regularly monitored medical institutions came to 1.47 to top the 1.00 threshold for the flu season start, up from 0.77 in the prior week.

A total of 7,280 people were diagnosed as influenza at the institutions in the latest survey period, according to the ministry.

Based on the figure, the total number of influenza patients at medical institutions across the country in the week is estimated at some 70,000, up by some 30,000 from the preceding week.

Of the total, those aged 5-9 accounted for some 20,000. The number of patients aged zero-4, 10-14, 30-39 and 40-49 stood at some 10,000 each.

Some 250,000 are believed to have contracted influenza in September or later.

Due to flu, 363 classes at schools in Japan, including kindergartens and nurseries, were temporarily closed, and 16 schools were entirely suspended.

Of the viruses detected in patients, A/H1N1, which spread globally in 2009 as a new virus, accounted for the largest share, followed by A/H3N2 and the type B virus, both at the almost same levels.

Currently, the planned vaccine supply is slightly short of the amount used in the last flu season. The ministry is thus, among other things, calling on people aged 13 or over to take a vaccine only once, instead of twice. Jiji Press