Influenza epidemic spreads in Kumamoto, where people continue to live in evacuation centers; experts urge early vaccination

With the influenza epidemic becoming the second fastest on record, infections are also spreading in Kumamoto Prefecture, which was hit by an earthquake with a magnitude of 7 in July. Now, two months after the outbreak, more than 1,300 people have been forced to live in evacuation centers, and experts emphasize that ``early vaccination is important.''

Beware of influenza in the new school year - Second earliest outbreak in history - Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare urges infection control measures

The number of patients reported by sentinel medical institutions across the country during the week from August 17 to 23 exceeded one patient per medical institution, which is the standard for an epidemic, and was the second earliest since the survey began in 1999 (excluding 2023, when the epidemic occurred throughout the year). From September 21 to 27, the number of cases was 7.17, exceeding the warning level (30 people) in Okinawa Prefecture and the advisory level (10 people) in four prefectures, including Saitama.

Kumamoto Prefecture also experienced an outbreak from August 31st to September 6th, and the number of cases was 3.86 from August 21st to September 27th. As of the 2nd of this month, approximately 1,360 people in the prefecture have taken refuge in evacuation centers in eight cities and towns, including Yatsushiro City. Koichi Izumikawa, a professor at Nagasaki University Hospital who is an expert on infectious disease control, warns that ``evacuation centers tend to be crowded with people, and the more people come into contact with each other, the easier it is for infectious diseases to spread.''

In addition to basic infectious disease prevention measures such as washing hands and ventilating the area, he pointed out that it is important to take actions to prevent the spread of the virus, such as (1) calling the police as soon as possible if you feel unwell, and (2) wearing a mask when you have a cough or runny nose.

Vaccination is an important part of influenza prevention, but ``vaccines are not immediately effective, so it is important to get vaccinated as soon as possible.''

Kumamoto Prefecture began conducting a vaccination request survey at evacuation centers on September 30th. Vaccination tickets will be issued to evacuees aged six months or older, allowing them to receive free vaccinations at local medical institutions starting from the 13th of this month.