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Colds Among Children On Rise In Japan

  • Category:Event
The number of children catching colds has been surging in Japan since the government lowered the status of COVID-19 under the infectious disease law May 8.

According to the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, the number of young patients suffering from herpangina, a type of summer cold, grew 6.7-fold from before the government's move, made just after the end of the Golden Week holiday period.

Meanwhile, the number infected with respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, which tends to spread between summer and autumn, grew 2.1-fold.

The surge is believed to reflect the weakening of people's immunity against viruses after COVID-19 prevention measures had limited their spread in recent years.

The institute said Tuesday that the number of patients reported at some 3,000 medical institutions with a pediatric department across the country in the week through June 4 averaged 1.87 for herpangina and 2.12 for RSV.

In the week through May 7, the figures stood at 0.28 and 0.99, respectively. Both numbers then increased for four straight weeks.
Infections are mostly at extremely high rates compared with the same period in 2020 to 2022.



[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
 
 

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