Swine Flu in Osaka and Kobe Dropping

Posted by Kyle Yates in Kansai Health

The number of individuals becoming infected with the swine flu, H1N1, is dropping and has been on the decline since May 20th according to data taken by the Japan Health, Labour and Welfare Ministry.

Doctors are using special kits designed to detect the virus, types A and B. Test results, if done the day symptoms first show up, tend to report patients as negative, while if the same test is done the day after the initial symptoms began, the results come back positive and are more accurate.

The rRT-PCR Swine Flu Panel (reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction) is generally used after patients have tested positive using the initial test kits to further confirm or negate the initial test result.