Japan’s flu cases hit warning level at fastest pace in 10 yrs
The Japanese government said Friday the average number of influenza patients at designated medical institutions nationwide has hit warning levels at the fastest pace in 10 years, with some experts pointing to the rising number of inbound tourists as one of the likely factors for the epidemic’s earlier-than-usual spread.
Across roughly 3,000 institutions, 145,526 patients were reported during the week from Nov. 10 to Sunday, averaging 37.73 people per facility and surpassing the warning level of 30, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
The figure, 1.73 times higher than the previous week, means the warning level has been reached five weeks earlier than last season, with 24 of the country’s 47 prefectures exceeding the threshold.
According to the health ministry, the most commonly reported virus was the type-A Hong Kong strain, which is the same strain that widely circulated during the winter of 2023.
Tourists
Reiko Saito, a professor at Niigata University, said, “The strain was circulating between August and September in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and an increase in tourists traveling to Japan from those regions may have contributed to its rapid spread.”
Other possible factors behind the rapid increase in infections, she said, include “the rapid drop in temperature, poor ventilation, and the extreme temperature fluctuations.”
“Currently, the outbreak is mainly among children and students, but the number of adults infected is expected to increase toward the end of the year, when people will be on the move more frequently,” she added.
Schools closed
The highest number of cases by prefecture was 80.02 in Miyagi Prefecture in northeastern Japan, followed by Saitama and Fukushima prefectures with 70.01 and 58.54, respectively.
While eastern Japan saw a rapid rise in general, the lowest numbers were recorded in Kochi, Tokushima, and Kagoshima prefectures.
A total of 5,777 elementary, junior high, and high schools have closed or partially closed due to the epidemic, an increase of about 2,000 from the previous week.
Influenza outbreaks typically occur in winter and the end of spring in Japan.
