Flu cases reach alert level, set to top 6 million

The cumulative number of people infected with influenza, in most cases H1N1 swine flu, since early July reached an estimated 5.85 million as of Nov. 1 and is set to top the 6 million mark soon, the National Institute of Infectious Diseases said Friday.

An estimated 1.54 million people infected with influenza visited medical facilities nationwide during the latest reporting week of Oct. 26 to Nov. 1, up from the 1.14 million in the preceding week through Oct. 25, the state-run institute said in a weekly report.

The number of flu patients in the latest week reported by the roughly 5,000 designated medical institutions jumped to 159,651 from 118,570 the preceding week.

The national average of flu patients per medical facility also surged to 33.28 from 24.62, topping the alert level of 30.00 for the first time.

This indicates the flu epidemic has entered a more serious phase, the institute said.

Flu patients per facility topped the caution level of 10.00 in all 47 prefectures, while the number of patients per facility topped the alert level of 30.00 in 21 prefectures.

Aichi led the list of prefectures hardest hit by influenza, with the number of patients per facility standing at 54.44 in the reporting week.