Week sees 1 million new cases of H1N1

The week that ended on Oct. 24 saw more than 1 million people come down with the new H1N1 influenza, the highest number of new cases since the virus was first reported in Japan, the National Institute of Infectious Diseases said Friday.

Slow poke: A child gets vaccinated against the H1N1 swine flu Friday in Tokyo. KYODO PHOTO

Swine flu vaccinations were meanwhile started in three prefectures Friday targeting people other than medical workers deemed at high risk of catching the disease.

The estimated number of new patients, most of whom are believed to be infected with the H1N1 strain, was 1.14 million, up from 830,000 the week before, bringing the cumulative total to 4.31 million since early July, when the weekly tally began to rise as the epidemic took hold.

This level of increase at the designated hospitals translates to an estimated total exceeding 1 million infections at all medical institutions nationwide, according to the institute.

The number of flu patients reported during the week by roughly 5,000 designated medical institutions jumped to 118,570 from 84,976 the week before.

In Kumamoto Prefecture, a man in his 20s became the 38th person to die of H1N1 in Japan, the prefecture said Friday.

The man was found dead Thursday evening at his home by a family member, and it was confirmed Friday that he had been infected with H1N1.

Gifu, Wakayama and Yamaguchi prefectures on Friday became the first to begin vaccinating pregnant women and people with chronic diseases against swine flu. Other prefectures will begin vaccinations next month.

These two groups, considered at high risk of developing severe symptoms, were placed second on the government's priority list to receive the vaccines.

Doctors and other health care workers top the list; vaccinations for them started nationwide on Oct. 19.

There are currently about 3,000 doses of H1N1 vaccine available in Yamaguchi Prefecture, while Gifu has doses for 8,000 people and Wakayama for 6,000. Hospital patients were the first group to be vaccinated Friday morning in the three prefectures.

Yamaguchi had initially planned to begin vaccinations in early November for pregnant women and people with chronic illnesses such as diabetes. But a recent government decision to limit the doses given to medical staff to one instead of two allowed the schedule to be moved up.

Separately, medical institutes began testing combined flu vaccines on children to determine if the dosage is appropriate.

Concerns have been expressed that the amount normally given to toddlers may not be sufficient to prevent the disease.

The test vaccines are being given to 360 children from 6 months to 13 years old at eight medical institutes around the country. The vaccines are manufactured by four Japanese pharmaceutical companies and are designed to prevent H1N1 and seasonal flu.