The number of reported cases of influenza this season in the week leading up to the 7th of this month was 98 nationwide, well below the national epidemic level.
According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, it is the first time that influenza has not spread at this time since 1999, when the investigation was started by the current method.
According to the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, the number of influenza patients reported by about 5,000 medical institutions nationwide during the week up to the 7th of this month was 98, 34 more than the previous week.
Patients were reported in 21 prefectures nationwide.
In addition, the number of patients nationwide estimated from this week is about 1,000, and the cumulative total since last fall is estimated to be about 12,000.
Influenza is said to enter the "national epidemic period" when the number of patients per week per medical institution exceeds one in the whole country, but it is 0.02 per medical institution, which is far below one.
The epidemic often peaks during this period each year, with reported cases ranging from 100,000 to 200,000 per week, but this is still significantly lower.
According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, it is the first time that the epidemic has not entered this period since 1999, when statistics were first collected using the current method.
Expert "A state that is hard to spread due to infection control of the new corona"
Kiyoshu Taniguchi, director of clinical research at the National Mie Hospital, which specializes in infectious diseases, said, "It seems that each person is very careful about the new coronavirus and is taking measures against infection, which makes it difficult for the epidemic to spread. The condition continues. In this situation, it is unlikely that the number of people with influenza will increase to the level of epidemics this season, but it is expected that the number of infected people will increase as the opportunities for person-to-person contact increase. It is necessary to continue to take measures while paying attention to the infection situation. "