Influenza Cases Resurging In Japan After Easing In December

TOKYO, Feb 6 (Bernama-Kyodo) -- The number of influenza cases in Japan is seeing a resurgence after falling below the alert threshold in December, health ministry data showed Friday, with figures rising again for four consecutive weeks amid the spread of another strain, Kyodo News Agency reported.

According to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, 114,291 cases were reported nationwide from around 3,000 designated medical institutions during the week through Feb 1, averaging 30.03 patients per facility and 1.8 times higher than the previous week.

It marks the first time in at least the past 10 flu seasons that the average number of patients per facility has fallen below the alert threshold of 30 and then risen above it again during the same season.

The resurgence is believed to be driven by the spread of the influenza B virus since the end of last year. The earlier outbreak was led by subclade K, a new mutant strain of the H3N2 influenza A virus.

Flu cases increased in all of Japan's 47 prefectures in the week from Jan 26 to Feb 1, with the highest average per medical institution reported in the southwestern Japan prefectures of Oita and Kagoshima at 52.48 and 49.60, respectively.

-- BERNAMA-KYODO