New flu cases climb among Japan high school students

[Coventina]

Source: Reuters

TOKYO, May 17 (Reuters) - The number of cases of H1N1 flu in Japan climbed to 44 on Sunday with the disease spreading mainly among high school students in western Japan, many of whom have not travelled abroad, a Health Ministry official said.

Japan has now confirmed 40 cases in Hyogo and Osaka prefectures, 37 of which are among high school students, said ministry official Keiichiro Suemasa.

That comes on top of four previous cases among people returning from abroad.

The ministry has been able to confirm that 24 of the students have not been abroad, Suemasa said.

Kyodo News reported that around 570 schools in the two prefectures have decided to suspend classes in the wake of the latest flu cases.

The World Health Organisation said on Saturday it was closely monitoring the situation in Japan. It raised its pandemic alert on April 29 to 5 on a scale of 6, meaning a pandemic is imminent. Proof the disease was spreading in a region outside North America, where it originated, would trigger an increase to 6.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUST151510

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Once again, it seems younger people are the "targets" of this flu.

[Mojorabbit]

1. The numbers are higher

I posted this article on the fluwikie this morning.
Swine flu spreads in Japan


Swine flu spreads in Japan

From correspondents in Kobe

Agence France-Presse

May 18, 2009 04:00am

JAPAN'S number of confirmed swine flu cases soared to 93 at the weekend, officials say, as senior health officials gathered in Geneva for talks on containing the spread of the virus.

Most of the infections were reported among high school and college students in and around the western cities of Kobe and Osaka, where authorities have ordered more than 1000 schools and kindergartens to stay shut today.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25498772-23109,00.html

Also China is pissed off at us for not screening people who are leaving the US via plane.

[aquart]

2. It's the closeness of school populations.

Also, it's easier to test and check in a school. They tested the kids at St. Francis, and the faculty, but the parents got sick, too. They just didn't test them because they knew what they had.

We don't have resistance built up to this flu, so it's spreading all over. Nobody's had a shot for it. It is going to filter into the older populations. Our great good fortune is that it has proved so far to be very mild, unpleasant, but mild.