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UPDATE: Saturday, June 12, 2010      The Japan Times Weekly    2009年5月30日号 (バックナンバー)
 
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Implementing new influenza-containment measures is imperative
(From The Japan Times May 21 issue)

 


要約
新型インフル感染を抑止する新たな策を

The new H1N1 influenza has spread rapidly mainly among high school students, their family members and teachers in Hyogo and Osaka prefectures. On May 16, the first eight cases were confirmed. By May 17, the number of confirmed cases topped 80 and on May 20, it climbed to at least 238.

The flu has forced the temporary closure of more than 4,000 schools and kindergartens in the two prefectures. It is imperative that the central and local governments work to prevent the flu from spreading to other regions.

At first, the nation's effort to prevent the intrusion of the flu at ports of entry appeared to have worked, but the virus has somehow managed to slip through. No one in the first group of confirmed cases had even been abroad. They appear to have contracted the virus through sports events in which teams from various high schools participated. The pathogenic power of the new flu virus is not very strong, but it is highly infectious. Young people also appear to lack immunity to the virus, making schools hotbeds for the new flu.

The fact that only a small number of people abroad aged 60 or over have fallen victim to H1N1 suggests that those who have suffered from pandemic flu in the past have gained some immunity to this strain. Fortunately, the antiviral drugs being used in Japan to lessen the symptoms of patients are working. The central and local governments should now work out ways to effectively treat patients by making rational use of Japan's limited human and other resources.

They will also need the cooperation of enterprises and other organizations in local communities in implementing flu-containment measures. These include canceling large gatherings and events, washing hands regularly, using masks at workplaces and preventing people with flu symptoms from coming to work. Although some think that the flu may disappear as the hot and humid summer starts in Japan, the central and local governments cannot afford to lower their guard as there is still a possibility of the flu virus mutating into a virulent pathogen.

The Japan Times Weekly: May 30, 2009
(C) All rights reserved
 

兵庫県と大阪府で高校生を中心に新型インフルエンザの感染が急速に広がっている。初確認された人々は渡航経験がなく、対外試合で感染したようだ。ウイルスの病原性は強くないが感染力が強く、若者は免疫がないため学校で広まったようだ。

日本での抗薬は効果的だが、政府と地方自治体は人的・物的資源の戦略的配置を考えるべきだ。企業や地域団体とともに、大規模なイベントの中止、手洗いや職場でのマスク着用、自宅待機などで拡大を防止する必要がある。夏に向かって事態は収束するとの見方もあるが、悪性の病原体に変異する可能性もあり油断は禁物だ。

The Japan Times

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