The first deaths from the new H1N1 influenza have been reported in Japan during the past week. A 57-year-old man of Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, died Aug. 15; a 77-year-old man of Kobe on Aug. 18; and an 81-year-old woman of Nagoya on Aug. 19. Both of the men had chronic renal insufficiency and were undergoing kidney dialysis.

A recent study by a team at Utrecht University, Netherlands, indicates that the flu's lethality rate is about 0.5 percent, higher than the usual seasonal influenza's 0.05 percent to 0.1 percent. The latter kills about 10,000 people a year in Japan.

Due attention should be paid to the fact that infants, aged people, pregnant women and people with pulmonary, cardiac or renal disease or with diabetes can become seriously ill if hit by the new virus. The World Health Organization says that 1,462 people had died of the new influenza as of Aug. 6.

The recent trend of influenza cases in Japan is worrisome. According to the National Institute of Infectious Disease's Infectious Disease Surveillance Center, which receives information from about 5,000 medical institutions, there were overall about 8,000 flu cases in early May when the first case of new influenza was confirmed. Although the number fell to 746 in the week ending July 5, it increased to 1,312 in the week ending July 26 and to 2,655 in the week ending Aug. 2.

Influenza is most rampant in Okinawa Prefecture, but has been spreading in the Kanto and Kinki regions. Most people have no immunity to the new influenza. Unlike in the past, teenagers constitute the largest age group infected. It is believed that many of the recent flu cases are from the new influenza.

It is feared that when children go back to school after summer vacation, the spread of flu may intensify. Individuals should take precautions such as washing their hands and gargling. People with a cough or sore throat or who are sneezing should wear masks and stay home. If everybody with flu symptoms ends up going to a hospital, people with a bad case of flu or a serious disease may not be able to receive timely treatment. The government should consider ways to prevent such a situation.