What's new

COVID-19 Coronavirus: situation in Japan

I don't feel not well. The cough is just annoying and my wife talks nonsense about it being my cold- yeah a cough that occurs mainly just before sleep and some days on other times. That doesn't fit a sickness at all. I don't want to forced to stand outside the doctors because their medicine is controlled by city hall.
Covid/corona and the flu are still out there, still very much out there.

It's not you, nothing against you personally. (of course you're one of the the good/rational people ;), who can diagnose themselves...) If you have any of the symptoms common to either the flu or corona, it's simply good medical practice to be cautious--to take precautions that are both simple and effective.

Medicine is not controlled by city hall. (some of the purse strings, perhaps, but not what doctors may do or decide)


Oh, and to make sure, you've gotten both your latest covid vaccination, and flu shot?
 
Covid/corona and the flu are still out there, still very much out there.

It's not you, nothing against you personally. (of course you're one of the the good/rational people ;), who can diagnose themselves...) If you have any of the symptoms common to either the flu or corona, it's simply good medical practice to be cautious--to take precautions that are both simple and effective.

Medicine is not controlled by city hall. (some of the purse strings, perhaps, but not what doctors may do or decide)


Oh, and to make sure, you've gotten both your latest covid vaccination, and flu shot?
Given the Covid vaccines don't work and quickly becomes contraproductive espcially these these especailly useless boosters- your point is. Vaccine booths are totally empty. By the way my local seven-eleven convience store has removed the silly barrier between seats. You can as always walk the store right next to anyone. A Lawson convience store never had barriers,
 
Given the Covid vaccines don't work and quickly becomes contraproductive espcially these these especailly useless boosters- your point is. Vaccine booths are totally empty. By the way my local seven-eleven convience store has removed the silly barrier between seats. You can as always walk the store right next to anyone. A Lawson convience store never had barriers,
There is a lot of research on the effectiveness of COVID-19 booster vaccines, which are additional doses of vaccine given after the initial vaccination to increase the immune response and protection against the virus. Here are some of the main findings from the web search results:

  • Boosters can increase the quantity and quality of antibodies and other immune cells that recognize and fight the virus, especially against variants with multiple mutations, such as the Omicron variant¹².
  • Boosters can reduce the risk of breakthrough infections, which are infections that occur in fully vaccinated people, especially in areas with high infection rates and low vaccination uptake¹².
  • Boosters can also prevent severe illness and death from COVID-19, which are the most important outcomes of vaccination³⁴⁵.
  • Boosters may be needed periodically, depending on the duration of immunity from the initial vaccination and the emergence of new variants¹².
  • Boosters may be different from the initial vaccines, such as bivalent boosters that target two variants at once, or updated boosters that match the current circulating strains³.

I hope this information helps you understand the evidence that corona virus booster vaccines work. 😊
 
After my high school buddy died in 2 weeks from covid , I figured why take a chance. The shots cost me nothing and have no bad effect on me so far , so why chance death just to prove something. I get my next booster this Friday. Let's say they are worthless for protection , they do give me some peace of mind and so far I haven't had covid while my young next door neighbors have both caught it.
 
Yeah, America really went off the conspiracy rails during 2020-2021. Spent so much energy and resources getting the pharmaceutical companies to develop a vaccine for this strange, and unpredictable virus that was running rampant around the world. And then, through the miracle of science, we got a vaccine, and America lost its mind.

Let me know how the booster goes, Frank. I haven't gotten it yet. The other boosters knocked me down for a day.

Well, the last one was only half a day, because my wife was yelling at me, "are you still in bed???" 🤜😵
 
I'm a bit worried about the new RSV shot knocking me for a loop. Seems like my doctor loves giving me shots. Tetanus , shingles . flu , pneumonia , covid , RSV and probably a few I forget. Reminds me a bit of boot camp where they gave me 23 shots in one day , UGH. Of all things so far , the only thing I'm deathly allergic to are anything with morphine or codeine which I found out the hard way when I had back surgery.
200.gif
 
Yeah, America really went off the conspiracy rails during 2020-2021. Spent so much energy and resources getting the pharmaceutical companies to develop a vaccine for this strange, and unpredictable virus that was running rampant around the world. And then, through the miracle of science, we got a vaccine, and America lost its mind.

Let me know how the booster goes, Frank. I haven't gotten it yet. The other boosters knocked me down for a day.

Well, the last one was only half a day, because my wife was yelling at me, "are you still in bed???" 🤜😵
I got the latest booster in October. I felt a little more tired than usual but otherwise didn't notice anything. None of the vaccines affected me too much.
 
Hiroki Ohashi, director of Tama Family Clinic in Kawasaki, Kanagawa, which deals with infectious diseases, warns of a 'flurona' outbreak: the raging influenza A outbreak in Japan is expected to dwindle to make way for influenza B, while, at the same time, people must be careful of a possible double outbreak of the latter plus the coronavirus.

Even if a patient has been infected with the flu once, they must not let their guard down, as infection with Type A flu doesn't lower the risk of contracting Type B. "Even if you've been infected once, there still are ample benefits to getting vaccinated (against the flu)," Ohashi advises. Japan has been gripped by the extraordinary outbreak of seasonal flu since early September, with average patient numbers rising to 11.07 per medical institution in October, surpassing the 10-patient per institution criterion for local government warnings at an unprecedented pace. According to the health ministry, the average flu patient numbers per institution hit 21.66 between Nov. 13 and 19. Many elementary and junior high schools have been forced to cancel classes due to the virus' rapid spread.

 
I just left the clinic for ear, nose and throat. Never has anything here taken down like what I caught. Did the camera through the nose. There seems to be a bacterial infection and a problem mucus build-up. Been coughing since last Wednesday. Temperature was 36.4 so that was fine.
5 medicines
1. Frustasol
2, emperacin
3. sitafloxacin
4. tranexamic acid
5. ambroxol hydrochoride

Well, hopefully I'll recover in about 5 days, if not, back to the clinic.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I just left the clinic for ear, nose and throat. Never has anything here taken down like what I caught. Did the camera through the nose. There seems to be a bacterial infection and a problem mucus build-up. Been coughing since last Wednesday. Temperature was 36.4 so that was fine. Well, hopefully I'll recover in about 5 days, if now, back to the clinic.

Same here. I've been knocked out since the beginning of this week: no fever, but the same mucus build-up you described. I had to cancel a lot of work.
 
Same here. I've been knocked out since the beginning of this week: no fever, but the same mucus build-up you described. I had to cancel a lot of work.
And I feel for you. I've always had a dry cough over the years, but this was unusual that every 5 minutes during sleep, I 'd have spit. I actually couldn't sleep for 3 days. Thursday was a holiday so Friday I zipped over to the doctor. Fine treatment, but the pharmacy, I definitely went to the wrong place for its helpfulness, but that's another story. Anyway, still coughing which is not good for the brain.
Take care, Thomas.

I don't know if this will help, but I read that one should only eat about 80% max and keep the tummy not full. Do you know anything about that?
 
And I feel for you. I've always had a dry cough over the years, but this was unusual that every 5 minutes during sleep, I 'd have spit. I actually couldn't sleep for 3 days. Thursday was a holiday so Friday I zipped over to the doctor. Fine treatment, but the pharmacy, I definitely went to the wrong place for its helpfulness, but that's another story. Anyway, still coughing which is not good for the brain.
Take care, Thomas.

I don't know if this will help, but I read that one should only eat about 80% max and keep the tummy not full. Do you know anything about that?
「腹八分目に医者いらず(Harahachibunme ni ishairazu)」=Moderate eating keeps the doctor away
This is a Japanese old proverb.
The example that it is healthy and does not need to get sick if I always eat modestly without entrusting it though I have the appetite, and eating too much.

As the eating habits not to get old, "energy restrictions" attract attention.

The study to postpone life with an energy diet is performed at an animal level for several decades, and not only life spreads by taking the energy diet, but also some reports to have possibilities to be useful for the prevention
 
Today, the health ministry approved the first domestically developed COVID-19 vaccine against the currently circulating XBB.1.5 sublineage of the omicron variant. The XBB-adapted version of Daiichi-Sankyo's coronavirus vaccine, Daichirona, will be available next week as a booster under the nation's free COVID-19 vaccination program. The government has already decided to procure 1.4 million doses of the vaccine from the drugmaker, the first Japanese firm to have developed COVID-19 shots.




Daiichi Sankyo has reached an agreement with Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) to supply the omicron XBB.1.5- adapted monovalent mRNA vaccine (DS-5670) against COVID-19. DS-5670 will be used in the current special temporary vaccination programme against COVID-19 in Japan that began in Autumn 2023. This agreement was concluded to supply 1.4 million doses in FY2023 under the condition that MHLW should grant regulatory approval for DS-5670. Daiichi Sankyo submitted a supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for DS-5670 to the MHLW in September 2023. Daiichi Sankyo is now preparing its production facilities to supply DS-5670, the first Japan-made COVID-19 mRNA vaccine, within this year. The company will strive to strengthen technologies for vaccine development and production further, thereby contributing to the safety and security of society and people's health in Japan. DS-5670 is an mRNA vaccine against COVID-19 designed to produce antibodies against the receptor binding domain (RBD) of the spike protein of the novel coronavirus, utilising a novel nucleic acid drug delivery system discovered by Daiichi Sankyo. In Japan, DS-5670, an original-strain-containing monovalent mRNA vaccine, was approved for manufacturing and marketing in August 2023 and is authorised to be used as a booster dose with an indication of "Prevention of disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection."

Daiichi Sankyo to supply omicron XBB.1.5-adapted COVID-19 vaccine in Japan
 
A team of researchers from the National Institute of Infectious Diseases and Nagoya University has found that those reinfected with the coronavirus may have a lower risk of transmitting it to others: they can rapidly produce an immune substance that makes the increased virus less infectious, making them less likely to infect others when the virus is shed from their bodies. This is the first analysis using human subjects to show that the earlier this immune substance is produced, the shorter the period of viral shedding.


Among the substances produced by the body's immune system, the research team focused on a "secretory antibody" produced on the mucosal surface of the nasal cavity. It is a type of antibody produced by immune cells and plays a role in efficiently eliminating harmful foreign substances that enter the body through the mucous membrane of the nasal cavity. On the other hand, when virus that has multiplied in the body of an infected person leaves the body, it also passes through the mucous membrane of the nasal cavity. It had been thought that the antibody had some kind of effect here, but the details were unknown. Using data on the level of virus particles in 122 people in Japan who were infected with the omicron strain, the researchers examined the secretory antibody and the period of time during which infectious virus particles were shed.

The team explained, "Although the current coronavirus vaccines have been highly effective in preventing severe illness, it is difficult to sufficiently shorten the period during which infectious virus particles are shed. Suppose we can develop a vaccine that can efficiently produce the secretory antibody in preparation for an unknown infectious disease outbreak. In that case, we can expect to control the epidemic at an early stage."

 
Let me know how the booster goes, Frank. I haven't gotten it yet. The other boosters knocked me down for a day.

Well, the last one was only half a day, because my wife was yelling at me, "are you still in bed???" 🤜😵
A nonMRNA vaccine is availble called Novavax which I uave heard causes less impact or knocking down. Neigther pfizer or moderna did much to me, I had pfizer this year. covid when I had it last year dec drug on for a month.
 
According to research by the Institute of Medical Science, University of Tokyo, the new JN.1 coronavirus strain now spreading rapidly in Japan is better at evading the human immune system and is more infectious than prior strains. This phenomenon, termed "immune escape," implies that the immune system is unable to fight off the infection, and scientists such as Kei Sato, a professor at the Institute of Medical Science, University of Tokyo, warn that the new variant could emerge as a pandemic strain in the future.


The JN.1 is a mutation of the omicron BA.2 variant, which became mainstream during the pandemic in 2022. JN.1 has been spreading worldwide since around November 2023, and the World Health Organization (WHO) designated it a "variant of interest (VOI)" in December. According to Japan's National Institute of Infectious Diseases, the percentage of JN.1 variant detected among COVID-19 patients increased from just over 10% in the first week of December 2023 to a little over 30% about three weeks later -- and is believed to be significantly increasing. But until now, the detailed characteristics of the new strain were unknown. The team used data from epidemiological studies of viral genomes from the U.K., France and Spain, and used cultured cells for their research. The results showed that JN.1's "effective reproductive number," indicating how many people one infected patient can spread the virus to, is around 1.2 to 1.4 times that of the currently prevalent strain.


 
According to health ministry data, the average number of COVID-19 patients in designated hospitals across Japan has increased for 11 consecutive weeks. Experts now caution that the country has entered its 10th wave of COVID-19 infections.

The average among the roughly 5,000 medical institutions stood at 16.15 in the week through last Sunday, with the total number of patients they reported up 8 percent from the previous week to 79,605, the data showed. Ishikawa Prefecture in central Japan saw the highest rise among the 47 prefectures with an average of 24.52 patients per institution, despite some reports not being included due to the disastrous impact of an earthquake on New Year's Day. Ishikawa and 40 other prefectures, including Tokyo, logged rises in the most recent week, and averages were also high in Fukushima at 24.49 patients per institution and Aichi at 22.55. Okinawa Prefecture saw the lowest figure at 8.94, followed by Osaka at 9.36 and Aomori at 10.75. New hospitalizations reported from approximately 500 medical institutions nationwide increased 4 percent from the previous week to 3,459.


 
Both novel coronavirus and influenza cases remain high in Japan, prompting experts to urge people to continue taking basic countermeasures such as face masks, hand washing and ventilation. The highly contagious new variant JN.1, believed to evade the human immune system more quickly than past strains, is increasingly found in infected people.

COVID-19 was downgraded to a lower-risk category that also includes flu under the infectious disease control law in May 2023, and the health ministry currently estimates the infection situation for both COVID-19 and flu based on new cases reported regularly from about 5,000 medical institutions across the country. According to the data, new COVID-19 cases reported in the week to Feb. 11 stood at 13.75 per institution. By prefecture, Ishikawa in central Japan had the largest number, at 21.91, followed by Aichi, also central Japan, at 20.06. Although new cases across Japan dropped on average for the first time in about three months, the country is in a situation that can be called "the 10th wave" of infections, experts warned.

 
By prefecture, Ishikawa in central Japan had the largest number, at 21.91, ...

Lucky that we're in tokyo this weekend! (wife is better/more conscientious, but I do try to mask up as much as I can)
 
Back
Top Bottom