Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Somewhat dated but a record was broken ...
Source: http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200804300177.html
Whooping cough spreads at unprecedented pace
04/30/2008
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
More than 1,200 people have contracted whooping cough so far this year, the fastest spread of the disease in Japan since the National Institute of Infectious Diseases started taking statistics, officials said.
Between Jan. 1 and April 20, 1,246 patients were reported to be suffering from the contagious disease, whose symptoms include persistent coughing. That count broke the record of 961 cases reported during the same period in 2000, when the government introduced the current large-scale surveillance system.
According to officials, about 40 percent of the patients were aged 20 or older, reflecting a recent increase in the spread of the disease among adults.
The institute currently collects reports on whooping cough from 3,000 pediatric wards and clinics throughout the nation. Officials said that while the number of cases among infants and children was declining, medical facilities with both pediatric and internal medicine departments reported an increase in the number of adult cases.
Of all the cases, 38 percent involved adults 20 or older, while children between the ages of 15 and 19 accounted for 4 percent. Children between the ages 10 and 14 made up 14 percent of the total.
Health officials are calling on people to take precautions against the disease and to seek medical advice for coughs that persist for more than two weeks.(IHT/Asahi: April 30,2008)
Source: http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200804300177.html
Whooping cough spreads at unprecedented pace
04/30/2008
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
More than 1,200 people have contracted whooping cough so far this year, the fastest spread of the disease in Japan since the National Institute of Infectious Diseases started taking statistics, officials said.
Between Jan. 1 and April 20, 1,246 patients were reported to be suffering from the contagious disease, whose symptoms include persistent coughing. That count broke the record of 961 cases reported during the same period in 2000, when the government introduced the current large-scale surveillance system.
According to officials, about 40 percent of the patients were aged 20 or older, reflecting a recent increase in the spread of the disease among adults.
The institute currently collects reports on whooping cough from 3,000 pediatric wards and clinics throughout the nation. Officials said that while the number of cases among infants and children was declining, medical facilities with both pediatric and internal medicine departments reported an increase in the number of adult cases.
Of all the cases, 38 percent involved adults 20 or older, while children between the ages of 15 and 19 accounted for 4 percent. Children between the ages 10 and 14 made up 14 percent of the total.
Health officials are calling on people to take precautions against the disease and to seek medical advice for coughs that persist for more than two weeks.(IHT/Asahi: April 30,2008)