Influenza Season Fully Starts in Japan

Tokyo, Sept. 6 (Jiji Press)–Japan has already entered this year’s influenza season in earnest, the second earliest on record. With the start of the new school term, students are having more opportunities to come into contact with each other, and experts are closely watching how the situation will develop. The health ministry is calling on people to take basic infection control measures, such as washing hands and covering their mouths with their hands or handkerchiefs when coughing. According to the government-affiliated Japan Institute for Health Security, the number of patients reported from regularly monitored medical institutions across the country started to increase in late June. In the week to Aug. 23, the number of patients per institution came to 1.11, topping 1.0, a threshold for an outbreak. The start of the flu season was the second earliest since the survey under the current format based on the infectious disease control law began in 1999. Excluding 2023, when outbreaks continued throughout the year, the earliest start was recorded in 2009, when Japan entered the flu season in mid-August. Last year, the flu season began in late September. While flu outbreaks have occurred in other countries as well, the prevalent virus types differ from region to region. The H1N1 strain, which caused a global epidemic in 2009 and has since been found typically as a seasonal flu virus, is currently the mainstream virus in Japan. While it is not exactly known why this year’s flu season started earlier, potential factors include the entry of viruses from abroad, increased opportunities for travel and people-to-people contact, and a rise in the number of people with insufficient immunity to the H1N1 strain. Taro Kamigaki, head of the JIHS’ infectious disease surveillance and research division, said, “The flow of people will change after the start of the new school term, so we need to look at data for September and later.” According to the ministry, the delivery of this season’s vaccines to medical institutions is expected to begin in the second week of this month at the earliest. In addition to conventional injection vaccination, nasal spray vaccines will be available for those aged 2 to 18. People aged 65 or over are eligible for regular vaccinations. Some local governments subsidize expenses of vaccinations for children. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]