ID :
75987
Wed, 08/19/2009 - 09:44
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/75987
The shortlink copeid
2nd death from new flu in Japan confirmed in Kobe+
KOBE, Aug. 18 Kyodo - A 77-year-old man in Kobe became the second person to die after contracting the new H1N1 influenza in Japan on Tuesday, following a 57-year-old man in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, who died Saturday.
The number of influenza patients in the country, most of whom are believed to
have been infected with the new flu strain, has almost reached a level
indicative of an epidemic, the National Institute of Infectious Diseases said
the same day.
Kobe, a port city in western Japan, is where the first cases of new flu
infections in Japan were confirmed in May. More than 5,000 cases have since
been confirmed nationwide but the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry says most
are not serious.
The man had emphysema, diabetes and high blood pressure as underlying
illnesses, and died after acute bronchitis caused his emphysema to rapidly
deteriorate, the Kobe city government said.
After developing a fever of 38 C on Sunday, he visited a local medical
institution Monday and was diagnosed with possible pneumonia but initially
tested negative for influenza.
He tested positive for influenza A in a different local hospital to which he
was introduced and where he was hospitalized, and took the antiflu drug Tamiflu
due to breathing problems and other symptoms.
He died at 6:20 a.m. Tuesday after taking a sudden turn for the worse. A
detailed test then found that he was infected with the H1N1 flu.
The man had no record of traveling abroad, and none of his family members has
flu symptoms, the city office said, adding the route of his infection is
unknown.
The national institute said, meanwhile, the number of flu patients reported by
about 5,000 designated medical institutions across Japan during the week of
Aug. 3-9 stood at 4,630, or 0.99 per facility on average, almost matching the
1.00 figure that is deemed the beginning of an epidemic.
Based on reports from the designated facilities, it estimated in a preliminary
report that the total number of flu patients during the reporting week in Japan
was about 60,000.
The number of flu patients at the designated facilities in the reporting week
sharply increased from the 2,655 reported for July 27-Aug. 2, advancing for the
fifth straight week since early July.
The report said influenza has entered a pandemic stage in Okinawa Prefecture,
which led a list of prefectures hardest hit by influenza with an average of
20.36 patients reported per facility.
In Okinawa, the first death appeared to have resulted from blood poisoning
after the new flu strain triggered pneumonia, according to the health ministry.
The number of flu patients per facility topped the national average of 0.99 in
five more prefectures in addition to Okinawa -- Nara (1.85), Osaka (1.80),
Tokyo (1.68), Nagasaki (1.50) and Nagano (1.44).
They were followed by Mie (0.99) and by Ibaraki and Hyogo, of which Kobe is the
capital, at 0.91 each, the report said.
Yoshinori Yasui, a senior researcher at the state-run institute, said a
full-fledged outbreak of influenza is expected in Japan's largest main island
of Honshu after schools reopen in September following the summer vacation.
On June 11, the World Health Organization declared a pandemic of the new flu,
raising its alert level to the highest of phase 6.
==Kyodo
The number of influenza patients in the country, most of whom are believed to
have been infected with the new flu strain, has almost reached a level
indicative of an epidemic, the National Institute of Infectious Diseases said
the same day.
Kobe, a port city in western Japan, is where the first cases of new flu
infections in Japan were confirmed in May. More than 5,000 cases have since
been confirmed nationwide but the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry says most
are not serious.
The man had emphysema, diabetes and high blood pressure as underlying
illnesses, and died after acute bronchitis caused his emphysema to rapidly
deteriorate, the Kobe city government said.
After developing a fever of 38 C on Sunday, he visited a local medical
institution Monday and was diagnosed with possible pneumonia but initially
tested negative for influenza.
He tested positive for influenza A in a different local hospital to which he
was introduced and where he was hospitalized, and took the antiflu drug Tamiflu
due to breathing problems and other symptoms.
He died at 6:20 a.m. Tuesday after taking a sudden turn for the worse. A
detailed test then found that he was infected with the H1N1 flu.
The man had no record of traveling abroad, and none of his family members has
flu symptoms, the city office said, adding the route of his infection is
unknown.
The national institute said, meanwhile, the number of flu patients reported by
about 5,000 designated medical institutions across Japan during the week of
Aug. 3-9 stood at 4,630, or 0.99 per facility on average, almost matching the
1.00 figure that is deemed the beginning of an epidemic.
Based on reports from the designated facilities, it estimated in a preliminary
report that the total number of flu patients during the reporting week in Japan
was about 60,000.
The number of flu patients at the designated facilities in the reporting week
sharply increased from the 2,655 reported for July 27-Aug. 2, advancing for the
fifth straight week since early July.
The report said influenza has entered a pandemic stage in Okinawa Prefecture,
which led a list of prefectures hardest hit by influenza with an average of
20.36 patients reported per facility.
In Okinawa, the first death appeared to have resulted from blood poisoning
after the new flu strain triggered pneumonia, according to the health ministry.
The number of flu patients per facility topped the national average of 0.99 in
five more prefectures in addition to Okinawa -- Nara (1.85), Osaka (1.80),
Tokyo (1.68), Nagasaki (1.50) and Nagano (1.44).
They were followed by Mie (0.99) and by Ibaraki and Hyogo, of which Kobe is the
capital, at 0.91 each, the report said.
Yoshinori Yasui, a senior researcher at the state-run institute, said a
full-fledged outbreak of influenza is expected in Japan's largest main island
of Honshu after schools reopen in September following the summer vacation.
On June 11, the World Health Organization declared a pandemic of the new flu,
raising its alert level to the highest of phase 6.
==Kyodo
