The H1N1 virus is the culprit. It’s taking its toll on the Japanese students. But who’s complaining? The students aren’t. That’s for sure. What student doesn’t enjoy a day off from school.

Week after week, students are getting days off from school. This week it’s the 2nd grade class out for 2 or 3 days. Last week it was the 5th grade class. Before that it was another grade out. Groups of students are being hit one by one around the country. Public and private schools are canceling classes as levels of students sick with the virus reach more than 30%. The H1N1 virus is so widespread the education system is trying to keep entire schools from being victims.

While children seem to be getting the brunt end of the virus, it is not just a virus for kids. Adults can contract the virus just as well, and education officials know this. Teachers need a break from all the sick students traipsing the halls.

Tags: H1N1, H1N1 virus, Japan, Japanese, viruses, japan school system, japanese school system, holidays, days off

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.

The number of swine flu cases in Japan are escalating with surprising speed, and health officials are not sure why. The Japanese government on Wednesday confirmed the first two cases of the disease in Tokyo, the world’s most populous metropolitan area. Meanwhile, the number of Japanese who have contracted the new flu has more than doubled since May 18 from 130 to 279, a rate of increase that is “without a doubt” the highest in Asia, says Peter Cordingley, regional spokesman for the World Health Organization. “It’s explosive.”

Question: How do you get “surprising speed” from only 292 cases out of 127,288,416 in a populated country that is slightly smaller than the state of California?

Time takes the opportunity to use swine flu and propel themselves into the upper echelons of website rankings by writing articles like the one mentioned above to attract visitors, sell copies of their magazine and satisfy their advertising quotas.

Time says in its opening statement that “the new flu has more than doubled since May 18 from 130 to 279, a rate of increase that is “without a doubt” the highest in Asia”. Then at the end of the paragraph they hit the readers with:

It’s explosive.

Explosive would be the number of cases doubling day by day or hour by hour. Time and other large news outlets are masters at exaggerating facts. However, it’s probably one of the reasons many people have stopped subscribing to major magazines and newspapers. They all too often overstate the facts and add too much opinion where they don’t need to.

While 292 cases to date sounds like a large number of infected people in Japan, it pales in comparison to other places. Swine flu is not in control anywhere. If anyone says the flu is out of control they are correct. But then, when has it ever been in control?

Only 292 reported cases of swine flu in Japan sounds pretty amazingly low considering the countries boasts 127,288,416 people as of 2008!

Local health officials say that the virus symptoms are mild, but that they are preparing for worse situations to try and stay on top of the virus.

Businesses and companies are doing their part to help stop the spread of the virus by checking employees in the morning for fevers and other symptoms, and asking them to stagger their lunch schedules to try and safeguard from infection.

Smaller hospitals and clinics are finding it difficult to separate those infected with the virus from those who are not due to the lack of available space. Doctors are ordering medicine and other supplies to prepare and asking patients with light symptoms to stay at home and recuperate rather stay in the hospital or clinic.

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Those who were reported infected with the virus today are mostly students and classmates of those who attended the volleyball matches last week, while a few separate cases have been reported in Yao city.

Masks are currently hard to find in a majority of stores in Osaka and Kobe. If you cannot find a mask and live in an effected area, you may want to shop outside the effected area or shop for some online.

If you are traveling to the Osaka-Kobe area, bring a mask with you to help prevent becoming infected with the virus and spreading it to others. The World Health Organization has issued warnings that we may be experiencing the “calm before the storm” where the virus is spreading without reported infections and being passed from one person to another.

Most of the infected are high school students from the Kobe-Osaka area.