Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said on Jan. 9th that, the number of influenza patients reported by designated medical institutions across Japan exceeded the 300,000 mark for the first time this winter, setting a new record since the current statistical method was adopted in 1999.
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare releases the number of patients visiting approximately 5,000 influenza designated medical institutions across the country every week. The latest data shows that in the week from December 23rd to 29th, 2024, these institutions reported nearly 318,000 influenza patients, more than three times the same period last year; On average, each institution reported about 64 people, a significant increase compared to the previous week's about 43 people, while the government set a warning value of 30.
The number of patients has increased in all 47 prefectures in Japan, and the number of influenza patients in medical institutions has exceeded the warning level. Among them, Oita Prefecture reported an average of nearly 105 patients per designated medical institution, the largest number; Kagoshima Prefecture, Saga Prefecture, Kumamoto Prefecture and Miyazaki Prefecture followed closely, with an average of more than 90 patients each.
According to Japan's Kyodo News Agency, this is the 10th consecutive week that the number of influenza patients in Japan has increased. Officials from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare believe that the surge in influenza patients may be related to the fact that it is a holiday and people are "expanding their activities."
Hiroyuki Kunijima, a professor at St. Marianna University School of Medicine in Japan, said that due to the strict prevention and control measures taken by the government in response to the COVID-19 epidemic in previous years, "there has been no influenza outbreak for a while" and this time people's "immune systems are weakened" when facing the influenza virus. The surge in patients has also put pressure on hospitals. However, despite this, influenza vaccination can still be effective in preventing and controlling the disease.
Ito Hiromichi, the director of a clinic in Tokyo, said the number of flu patients has surged since December, with about 25 people testing positive every day. In order to cope with the sudden epidemic, the clinic insisted on opening its doors even during the New Year holiday, but it was still overwhelmed by the influx of patients. "The clinic is already overwhelmed," Ito said helplessly.
At this stage, many medical institutions in Japan are in shortage of influenza drugs.
Major Japanese drugmaker Sawai Pharmaceutical Co. and Chugai Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of pharmaceutical giant Roche Holdings, announced that they would suspend the supply of flu drug Tamiflu and its generic versions as production struggles to meet surging demand. Sawai Pharmaceutical plans to resume supply of generic drugs at the end of Jan. or early next month, while Chugai Pharmaceutical announced that it will not be able to resume partial supply until the end of February.
