Snowy Owl
Retired in 2010, In Memoriam
Center warns of measles outbreak, eyes inoculations
<!--// headline_end //--> <!--// byline_start //--> The Yomiuri Shimbun
(<!--// date_start //-->Oct. 7, 2007<!--// date_end //-->)
<!--// byline_end //--><!--// article_start //--> <!-- google_ad_region_start=region1 --> A number of measles cases have been reported in regions such as Kyushu and Kansai this autumn, prompting fears of an outbreak similar to one that hit the Kanto region earlier this year, according to the National Institute of Infectious Diseases.
The institute is calling for inoculations to be undertaken with some urgency as the disease could spread quickly in these regions, just as it did in the Kanto area.
According to the institute's Infection Disease Surveillance Center, the majority of victims in the recent cases are aged 15 or over. Between six and 10 patients aged 15 or over have been seen by doctors at each of the country's 450 major hospitals since the start of September. In late September, 30 students at a private high school in Kobe contracted measles.
Seventy-six children were reported to have contracted measles in one week in early September. More than half of them were in the Kansai and Kyushu regions, with 22 cases being reported in Fukuoka Prefecture and 15 in Osaka Prefecture. In spring 2006, measles spread within prefectures such as Ibaraki and Chiba, which in turn led to an outbreak in and around Tokyo that autumn. This trend continued intermittently until this spring's major outbreak, and it is believed the outbreaks may have been linked.
According to the center, the pattern this autumn closely resembles that of autumn last year, prompting concern over the possibility of a major outbreak in the Kansai and Kyushu regions next spring.
"Measles likely will spread in regions where there wasn't a major outbreak this spring," said Keiko Taya, head of the center. "I hope inoculations are given now to tackle the disease before there is a full-scale outbreak."
(<!--// date_start //-->Oct. 7, 2007<!--// date_end //-->)
<!--// headline_end //--> <!--// byline_start //--> The Yomiuri Shimbun
(<!--// date_start //-->Oct. 7, 2007<!--// date_end //-->)
<!--// byline_end //--><!--// article_start //--> <!-- google_ad_region_start=region1 --> A number of measles cases have been reported in regions such as Kyushu and Kansai this autumn, prompting fears of an outbreak similar to one that hit the Kanto region earlier this year, according to the National Institute of Infectious Diseases.
The institute is calling for inoculations to be undertaken with some urgency as the disease could spread quickly in these regions, just as it did in the Kanto area.
According to the institute's Infection Disease Surveillance Center, the majority of victims in the recent cases are aged 15 or over. Between six and 10 patients aged 15 or over have been seen by doctors at each of the country's 450 major hospitals since the start of September. In late September, 30 students at a private high school in Kobe contracted measles.
Seventy-six children were reported to have contracted measles in one week in early September. More than half of them were in the Kansai and Kyushu regions, with 22 cases being reported in Fukuoka Prefecture and 15 in Osaka Prefecture. In spring 2006, measles spread within prefectures such as Ibaraki and Chiba, which in turn led to an outbreak in and around Tokyo that autumn. This trend continued intermittently until this spring's major outbreak, and it is believed the outbreaks may have been linked.
According to the center, the pattern this autumn closely resembles that of autumn last year, prompting concern over the possibility of a major outbreak in the Kansai and Kyushu regions next spring.
"Measles likely will spread in regions where there wasn't a major outbreak this spring," said Keiko Taya, head of the center. "I hope inoculations are given now to tackle the disease before there is a full-scale outbreak."
(<!--// date_start //-->Oct. 7, 2007<!--// date_end //-->)