Flu comes early to Tokyo this year

Tokyo, the capital of Japan, already has many flu^*1 patients this year. On September 17, the Tokyo government's health office announced that the number of flu patients has passed the level for an advisory^*2. The office asked people to take good care so the flu does not spread.

Some hospitals and clinics^*3 in Tokyo count their flu patients every week and report the numbers to the city. From September 7 to September 13, each of these hospitals and clinics reported 9.53 patients on average^*4. This is above the advisory level. Last year, the numbers passed this level in late October. This year, it happened more than one month earlier.

Tokyo has 31 public health centers^*5, and each one looks after one part of the city. In 14 of these 31 areas, the flu is now at the advisory level. Almost half of the people in Tokyo, 47.87 percent, live in these areas.

The flu is also spreading in schools and care homes^*6. From August 31 to September 13, there were 225 outbreaks^*7 at these places. In the same time, 107 schools and kindergartens closed for a short time because of the flu. They were 88 elementary schools, 9 junior high schools, 6 high schools and 4 kindergartens. In the same weeks last year, only 13 closed.

Doctors also tested the virus from these outbreaks. In 85.7 percent of them, the virus was a type called AH1pdm09^*8. In 14.3 percent, it was a type called AH3^*9.

The health office says the flu season has started early, and it asked people in Tokyo to be careful.

1. *1 flu: a sickness that gives you a high fever, a cough and body pain; it spreads easily from person to person
2. *2 advisory: a public warning that tells people to be careful
3. *3 clinics: small places where doctors see patients
4. *4 on average: the usual number when you add all the numbers together and share them out equally
5. *5 public health centers: government offices that work to keep the people in one area healthy
6. *6 care homes: places where old people or people who need help live and get care
7. *7 outbreaks: times when many people in one place get sick at the same time
8. *8 AH1pdm09: one type of flu virus
9. *9 AH3: another type of flu virus