The flu epidemic, which had stalled for a while, has returned to spread.



In particular, the number of suspected cases in the youth group was nearly three times the prevalence standard.



According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 'Weekly Newsletter of Infectious Disease Sample Monitoring' (week 43) of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) today (28th), the fraction of patients with suspected influenza per 1,000 outpatients from October 16 to 22 (fraction of pseudo-influenza patients, ILI) was 7.6. The number of people increased by 1.4 from 6.2 in the previous week, 42 ​​weeks.



The proportion of physician patients decreased slightly from 7.1 at 40 weeks to 7.0 at 41 weeks, and then decreased for two consecutive weeks until week 42.



Influenza did not spread for two consecutive years in 2020 and last year after the outbreak of COVID-19, but this year, the epidemic started early in the fall.



The proportion of doctors and patients was only 1.6 at the 43rd week of last year.



The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is operating an influenza monitoring system for 200 medical institutions nationwide.



A person with a sudden fever of 38°C or higher and cough or sore throat is classified as a pseudo-patient (suspected patient).



The proportion of doctors at week 43 is well above the standard of 4.9 cases this season.



When looking at the proportion of physician patients by age group, 13-18 years old had the highest rate of 14.3 (10.8 at 42 weeks).



It is 2.9 times higher than the standard of fashion.



The number of 1-6 year olds and 7-12 year olds was 8.7 and 6.9, respectively, up from 7.2 and 5.9 at 42 weeks, but relatively lower than 13-18 years old.



The age group aged 19-49 also increased from 8.8 to 11.



The prevalence of 'human metapneumovirus', a respiratory infectious disease in infants and toddlers, which caused concern due to its spread, has become smaller than the previous week.



The detection rate in respiratory samples decreased from 39.0% to 29.2% at week 42, and the number of hospitalized patients also decreased from 339 to 269.



(Photo = Yonhap News)