Treyfish
Moderator
A measles epidemic is gradually spreading in Tokyo and Saitama
Prefectures, government researchers said.
Researchers at the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID)
said the measles is highly contagious and that the number of patients
could surpass the 280 000 recorded in 2001.
The institute is warning of an epidemic, fearing that holidaymakers
may spread the disease across the country by traveling in various
areas during the Golden Week holiday period from late April to early
May [2007].
After about a 10-day latency period following infection, [patients
develop symptoms that include] high fever, coughing, and a runny nose
for the 1st few days, and then a red rash spreads over their bodies.
Roughly 40 percent of patients need to be hospitalized even though
the death rate from measles is only 0.1 to 0.2 percent.
At least one class has been closed because of the measles epidemic at
an elementary school, a junior high school, and 2 high schools in
Tokyo. One of the high schools, situated in Nerima-ku, was forced to
postpone the beginning of the 1st term of the new school year from [6
Apr 2007] to [10 Apr 2007] because 29 students had suffered from the
measles since early March [2007].
The pediatric departments of about 3000 hospitals across the country
reported 32 cases of the measles over the 2-8 Apr 2007 period alone,
according to the institute.
The number of reported cases of measles began to increase in February
[2007] and the number of adult patients whose condition tends to be
serious has been sharply increasing since mid-March [2007], according
to researchers. (Mainichi)
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
[Golden Week occurs in the end of April, beginning of May and is a
confluence of 4 National Holidays in Japan. 29 Apr is Showa Day
(Showa no hi): the birthday of former Emperor Showa, who died in the
year 1989. 3 May is Constitution Day (Kenpo kinenbi): on this day in
1947, the new post-war constitution was put into effect. 4 May --
Greenery Day -- (Midori no hi): until 2006, Greenery Day used to be
celebrated on 29 Apr, the birthday of former Emperor Showa. The day
is dedicated to the environment and nature, because the emperor loved
plants and nature. Before being declared Greenery Day, 4 May used to
be a national holiday due to a law, which declares a day that falls
between 2 national holidays, a national holiday. 5 May -- Children's
Day -- (Kodomo no hi): the Boy's Festival (Tango no Sekku). Families
pray for the health and future success of their sons by hanging up
carp streamers and displaying samurai dolls, both of which symbolize
strength, power, and success in life. The Girl's Festival, is
celebrated on 3 Mar (excerpted from japan-guide.com
<http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2282.html>).
As in many countries, during a weeklong holiday festival, there is
extensive movement of the Japanese population, so diseases that have
person-to-person transmission have a field day as the geographic
extent of the transmission is markedly facilitated in these countries
during these weeklong festivals. There is also extensive
international travel during these holiday periods so the possibility
of transmission of diseases, such as measles, to other countries is
also markedly increased, with many nationals either returning to
their countries for the holiday, or taking advantage of a one-week
holiday to do international tourism or family visits. (As an aside,
this moderator will be leaving for Japan tomorrow in a non-official
capacity to spend Golden Week there and will be interested to see
what types of alerts may be issued.)
This newswire mentions an increase in reported cases in Tokyo and
Saitama Prefectures (Saitama Prefecture is adjacent to Tokyo; for a
map of Japan with administrative divisions see
<http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/middle_east_and_asia/japan_divisions.jpg>).
There is mention of school closings including elementary, junior, and
senior high school, and of increases in cases in adults... that
epidemiologic picture suggests there are many individuals who have
"slipped through the cracks" of the immunization program activities
in Japan. Measles is a vaccine preventable disease. Receipt of 2
doses of potent vaccine (properly stored maintaining cold chain
temperature requirements from time of production through time of
administration of the vaccine) results in vaccine efficacies of 99
percent when the 1st dose is received at 12 months of age or older
(see Measles Pink Book Chapter at
<http://www.cdc.gov/Nip/publications/pink/meas.pdf>).
According to the Infectious Disease Surveillance Data
<http://idsc.nih.go.jp/idwr/kanja/weeklygraph/12measles-e.html>, as
of week 14 (the week of 2 Apr 2007), there appears to be a minor
increase in reported cases of measles nationwide, but at overall
rates lower than the past 10 years with the exception of 2006. While
the graph states it refers to sentinel case reports, the Y-axis is
not clear as to what is being measured (? actual case numbers,
population based rates). More information on the actual epidemiologic
situation of measles in Japan would be appreciated -- numbers of
cases, age distribution of cases, information on the vaccine history
of cases, control measures being implemented, type of virus
associated with increase, and possible geographic origin of
circulating virus). - Mod.MPP]:tiphat:
http://tinyurl.com/3a2xja
Prefectures, government researchers said.
Researchers at the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID)
said the measles is highly contagious and that the number of patients
could surpass the 280 000 recorded in 2001.
The institute is warning of an epidemic, fearing that holidaymakers
may spread the disease across the country by traveling in various
areas during the Golden Week holiday period from late April to early
May [2007].
After about a 10-day latency period following infection, [patients
develop symptoms that include] high fever, coughing, and a runny nose
for the 1st few days, and then a red rash spreads over their bodies.
Roughly 40 percent of patients need to be hospitalized even though
the death rate from measles is only 0.1 to 0.2 percent.
At least one class has been closed because of the measles epidemic at
an elementary school, a junior high school, and 2 high schools in
Tokyo. One of the high schools, situated in Nerima-ku, was forced to
postpone the beginning of the 1st term of the new school year from [6
Apr 2007] to [10 Apr 2007] because 29 students had suffered from the
measles since early March [2007].
The pediatric departments of about 3000 hospitals across the country
reported 32 cases of the measles over the 2-8 Apr 2007 period alone,
according to the institute.
The number of reported cases of measles began to increase in February
[2007] and the number of adult patients whose condition tends to be
serious has been sharply increasing since mid-March [2007], according
to researchers. (Mainichi)
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
[Golden Week occurs in the end of April, beginning of May and is a
confluence of 4 National Holidays in Japan. 29 Apr is Showa Day
(Showa no hi): the birthday of former Emperor Showa, who died in the
year 1989. 3 May is Constitution Day (Kenpo kinenbi): on this day in
1947, the new post-war constitution was put into effect. 4 May --
Greenery Day -- (Midori no hi): until 2006, Greenery Day used to be
celebrated on 29 Apr, the birthday of former Emperor Showa. The day
is dedicated to the environment and nature, because the emperor loved
plants and nature. Before being declared Greenery Day, 4 May used to
be a national holiday due to a law, which declares a day that falls
between 2 national holidays, a national holiday. 5 May -- Children's
Day -- (Kodomo no hi): the Boy's Festival (Tango no Sekku). Families
pray for the health and future success of their sons by hanging up
carp streamers and displaying samurai dolls, both of which symbolize
strength, power, and success in life. The Girl's Festival, is
celebrated on 3 Mar (excerpted from japan-guide.com
<http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2282.html>).
As in many countries, during a weeklong holiday festival, there is
extensive movement of the Japanese population, so diseases that have
person-to-person transmission have a field day as the geographic
extent of the transmission is markedly facilitated in these countries
during these weeklong festivals. There is also extensive
international travel during these holiday periods so the possibility
of transmission of diseases, such as measles, to other countries is
also markedly increased, with many nationals either returning to
their countries for the holiday, or taking advantage of a one-week
holiday to do international tourism or family visits. (As an aside,
this moderator will be leaving for Japan tomorrow in a non-official
capacity to spend Golden Week there and will be interested to see
what types of alerts may be issued.)
This newswire mentions an increase in reported cases in Tokyo and
Saitama Prefectures (Saitama Prefecture is adjacent to Tokyo; for a
map of Japan with administrative divisions see
<http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/middle_east_and_asia/japan_divisions.jpg>).
There is mention of school closings including elementary, junior, and
senior high school, and of increases in cases in adults... that
epidemiologic picture suggests there are many individuals who have
"slipped through the cracks" of the immunization program activities
in Japan. Measles is a vaccine preventable disease. Receipt of 2
doses of potent vaccine (properly stored maintaining cold chain
temperature requirements from time of production through time of
administration of the vaccine) results in vaccine efficacies of 99
percent when the 1st dose is received at 12 months of age or older
(see Measles Pink Book Chapter at
<http://www.cdc.gov/Nip/publications/pink/meas.pdf>).
According to the Infectious Disease Surveillance Data
<http://idsc.nih.go.jp/idwr/kanja/weeklygraph/12measles-e.html>, as
of week 14 (the week of 2 Apr 2007), there appears to be a minor
increase in reported cases of measles nationwide, but at overall
rates lower than the past 10 years with the exception of 2006. While
the graph states it refers to sentinel case reports, the Y-axis is
not clear as to what is being measured (? actual case numbers,
population based rates). More information on the actual epidemiologic
situation of measles in Japan would be appreciated -- numbers of
cases, age distribution of cases, information on the vaccine history
of cases, control measures being implemented, type of virus
associated with increase, and possible geographic origin of
circulating virus). - Mod.MPP]:tiphat:
http://tinyurl.com/3a2xja
