151.3 out of every 1000 adolescent flu patients...The Biggest Trend in Nine Years
Jan 03, 2025
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According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, out of 1,000 outpatients who visited 300 influenza sample monitoring medical institutions nationwide in the last week of 2024 (December 22-28), the number of suspected influenza patients (ILI) surged 136% from 31.3 a week ago to 73.9. It is the highest level since 86.2 in 2016.
It was 73.9 last year, 61.3 in 2023 and 60.7 in 2022. In 2020 and 2021, when there was no flu epidemic due to COVID-19, 3.3 and 4.8 people were the highest, respectively.
The number of adolescents aged 13 to 18 is 151.3 per 1,000 people, 17.6 times higher than the 2024-2025 flu epidemic (8.6 per 1,000 people). It was followed by 137.3 people aged 7 to 12, 93.6 people aged 19 to 49, and 58.4 people aged 1 to 6.
In the results of surveillance of respiratory viral pathogens, the influenza virus detection rate was 50.9%, which was the highest this season, increasing significantly from the previous week (29.0%).
Among the virus subtypes, H1N1pdm09 (34.6%) was the highest among type A, followed by type A H3N2 (14.9%) and type B (1.4%).
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention believes that high-risk groups should be vaccinated against the flu even now. Children aged 6 months to 13 years old, pregnant women, and 65 years of age or older, who are at high risk of severe infection, can be inoculated free of charge until April 30 of next month. In addition, influenza epidemic warnings have been issued, so high-risk groups such as children and pregnant women can receive health insurance care benefits when prescribing antiviral drugs.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
