Health Japan issues flu alert as infections surge earlier than expected

The ministry noted that this warning had been issued far sooner than it was last season, coming roughly five weeks ahead of the usual timing. Officials said the average number of people seeking care for flu at the monitored medical facilities had climbed sharply, rising to 37.73 between 10 and 16 November, compared with 21.82 the previous week. Under the current system, an alert is issued when the weekly average exceeds 30 patients per reporting institution.

The threshold was surpassed in 24 of Japan's 47 prefectures. The outbreak is particularly severe in eastern Japan, with Miyagi Prefecture reporting the highest figure at 80.02 cases per institution, followed by Saitama Prefecture with 70.01. Major metropolitan areas were also hit hard, with Tokyo at 44.75 and Osaka at 31.57. Hospitalizations for the week totaled 1,466, an increase of more than 500 from the previous week. The most affected age groups were children aged 1-4 and 5-9, and adults 80 and over. The spike has also led to a sharp rise in school and class closures. A total of 6,235 educational and child care facilities nationwide suspended operations, nearly 1.7 times the number from the previous week.

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Is this due to vaccine hesitancy? We have a bit of a surge of flu here in the UK. People are having the vaccination but it's delayed onset of efficacy (it takes about two weeks to began providing 'immunity') and so the worry is that late up take and the usual annual Christmas gathering-transmission-fest will produce a large spike in infections and hospitals will be stretched in the new year.

Rumor has it that the strain making the rounds wasn't covered by the vaccine. Also I imagine many people in Japan don't bother getting vaccinated.

mdchachi said:

Rumor has it that the strain making the rounds wasn't covered by the vaccine. Also I imagine many people in Japan don't bother getting vaccinated.

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It provides some protection. It's the difference between complications of flu like chest infection and hospitalisation and being sick in bed for a week. Many think vaccinations give you total immunity to infection when in fact they tend to attenuate the symptoms. They're vaccines not mithril armour!

Konnichiwa Ukigumo-san!

Influenza is also spreading in Japan, and this year's epidemic is said to have started a month earlier than usual.

About the influenza epidemic in Japan
From Taisho Pharmaceutical

In Japan, the vaccination rate for the elderly and young children is 50%, but only about 24% for those aged 13-65.

Influenza epidemics occur every year, but Japanese people do not seem to have much confidence in the influenza vaccine.

Maybe we're overestimating the effectiveness of masks.


This year, for the first time in my life, I caught the flu, but it was in January of this year.

I know the cause.

1.It was right after I recovered from a cold.
2.Traveled to tourist spots
3.The air in the hotel was particularly bad.
4.I forgot my mask at home and couldn't wear it.

I always wore a mask when going out, so I had never caught either coronavirus or the flu before, but this time I caught the flu.

Fortunately, there was a hospital very close to my house, so I was able to get it fixed quickly with medicine.

I have never had a flu shot as an adult and never plan to get one. As long as I wear a mask, I'll be fine!

NANGI

I get all my shots every year because my wife will drive me crazy if I don't , LOL. 1969 , Navy boot camp , we received 20 shots in one day. Only about 8 were well known types with all the rest being experimental. A few years later there was a big article how the drug companies used military recruits as guinea pigs. SO far , no bad reactions to any of my shots.

We all went and got our flu shots before coming to Japan. Myself and the kids get them yearly but $wife doesn't think they are necessary. I have had Influenza before in my early 20's, a variant not covered by the vaccine, I had trouble crawling out of bed to go to the bathroom during the worst of it. I'm not the type to let illness slow me down much, I just try to power through it, so it's something I remember well.