Posted: 20 May 2009 1657 hrs
Medical staff awaits patients suffering from fever at an entrance of a hospital in Kobe, Hyogo prefecture in western Japan
KOBE, Japan : The number of Influenza A (H1N1) infections in Japan rose to 232 on Wednesday, most of them school students, as the outbreak spread to a third western prefecture, officials said.
The commercial hub of Kobe, where the first domestic case was confirmed last Saturday, remained the worst affected, with officials on Tuesday announcingmore than 20 new cases of the (A)H1N1 virus.
The prefecture of Shiga became the third, after Hyogo and Osaka, to confirm a H1N1 flu infection in Japan, with a man in his 20s testing positive after returning from a weekend trip to Kobe.
Kyodo news agency reported that 86 per cent of cases detected so far in Japan were in people between the ages of 10 and 19 - making it more prevalent among youth in Japan than it is in the United States.
Experts said this may reflect a heavy focus by health authorities on testing in schools, although another possibility was a greater immunity among the elderly because of past flu epidemics.
Authorities have closed more than 4,400 schools, colleges and kindergartens for the rest of the week to slow the spread of the virus, and some neighbouring prefectures have also closed some schools.
Experts warned the virus had probably already spread to other regions including the capital Tokyo, which with almost 36 million people is the world's most populous urban area.
The government has urged calm and reminded people that no one in Japan has so far died of the disease and that most infections are mild.
The government may loosen its strict measures designed to minimise infections, said Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura.
Under the current rules, for example, all people with H1N1 are asked to see physicians at designated clinics and be hospitalised, regardless of the severity of their symptoms.
Local mayors and physicians have complained that the measures are unrealistic and burdening local hospitals.
"We are considering various reviews, including allowing medical care (for H1N1 flu patients) at normal hospital wards," Kawamura said. - AFP/ms
From ChannelNewsAsia.com; see the source article here.
----------
How about an all-around cure that's always abundant?
Medical staff awaits patients suffering from fever at an entrance of a hospital in Kobe, Hyogo prefecture in western JapanKOBE, Japan : The number of Influenza A (H1N1) infections in Japan rose to 232 on Wednesday, most of them school students, as the outbreak spread to a third western prefecture, officials said.
The commercial hub of Kobe, where the first domestic case was confirmed last Saturday, remained the worst affected, with officials on Tuesday announcingmore than 20 new cases of the (A)H1N1 virus.
The prefecture of Shiga became the third, after Hyogo and Osaka, to confirm a H1N1 flu infection in Japan, with a man in his 20s testing positive after returning from a weekend trip to Kobe.
Kyodo news agency reported that 86 per cent of cases detected so far in Japan were in people between the ages of 10 and 19 - making it more prevalent among youth in Japan than it is in the United States.
Experts said this may reflect a heavy focus by health authorities on testing in schools, although another possibility was a greater immunity among the elderly because of past flu epidemics.
Authorities have closed more than 4,400 schools, colleges and kindergartens for the rest of the week to slow the spread of the virus, and some neighbouring prefectures have also closed some schools.
Experts warned the virus had probably already spread to other regions including the capital Tokyo, which with almost 36 million people is the world's most populous urban area.
The government has urged calm and reminded people that no one in Japan has so far died of the disease and that most infections are mild.
The government may loosen its strict measures designed to minimise infections, said Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura.
Under the current rules, for example, all people with H1N1 are asked to see physicians at designated clinics and be hospitalised, regardless of the severity of their symptoms.
Local mayors and physicians have complained that the measures are unrealistic and burdening local hospitals.
"We are considering various reviews, including allowing medical care (for H1N1 flu patients) at normal hospital wards," Kawamura said. - AFP/ms
From ChannelNewsAsia.com; see the source article here.
----------
How about an all-around cure that's always abundant?
No comments:
Post a Comment