There are almost no signs of an influenza epidemic, but the future situation needs attention. September 28, 18:31
The latest national data on influenza, which is feared to be a simultaneous epidemic with the new coronavirus, has been released.
There are few signs of an epidemic so far, but the National Institute of Infectious Diseases is alerting to future epidemics and urging older people to get vaccinated early.
According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, the number of influenza patients reported by approximately 5,000 pre-selected medical institutions nationwide in the week leading up to the 20th of this month was two each in Osaka and Okinawa prefectures. There were a total of 4 people nationwide.
Influenza is said to have entered a national epidemic when the number of patients per week per medical institution exceeds one in the whole country, but at this point it is far below 0.0008.
According to the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, the nationwide influenza epidemic usually begins around November to December, with different times depending on the year.
For this reason, there are concerns about simultaneous epidemics with the new coronavirus, so it is necessary to pay attention to the future epidemic situation.
Tomimasa Sunagawa, director of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, who is conducting the analysis, said, "It seems that influenza has been suppressed due to the effects of measures against the new coronavirus, etc. In preparation for the epidemic, especially elderly people should be vaccinated as soon as possible. "