NEWSWORTHY
The health ministry, at the urging of a study panel Wednesday, is expected to lift a ban this year on the use of the influenza drug Tamiflu for patients from ages 10-19. The use of the flu drug was restricted in Japan from 2007 following ...
One-dose flu drug Xofluza gets nod from health ministry
Osaka-based drugmaker Shionogi & Co. has announced that the health ministry gave it approval to manufacture and market its new flu drug Xofluza, which requires only a single dose regardless of age. The drug, which has been approved in tablet form for use against the ...
Japanese hospitals sick of requests for flu-recovery certificates
With the latest flu variant engulfing Japan, hospitals are flooded not only with new patients but also former patients seeking medical certificates needed to prove full recovery to schools, employers and other institutions. Although the health and education ministries issued a statement during the major ...
Health ministry issues warning as flu epidemic rages in Japan
The health ministry sounds the alarm as influenza cases soar to a new record amid a shortage of vaccines in Japan.
Health scientists scramble to save research ahead of federal shutdown
The nation's premier medical research institute is in "a scramble" to prepare for a partial government shutdown that could ruin costly experiments and leave sick patients unable to enter cutting-edge studies, Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health said Thursday. Fauci stressed that ...
Number of flu patients rises in Japan with 1.24 million new cases reported in first week of the year
The health ministry is calling on the public to wear masks or cover their mouths with a handkerchief to avoid spreading the flu.
Japan’s government decided Wednesday to urge local government action on the risk of flu-linked accidents, after at least 54 incidents involving mostly children were reported last season across the nation.
Japan may face a shortage of influenza vaccines this winter due to a production delay. The supply volume is currently projected at some 25.28 million units, about 1.14 million units lower than the estimated amount used in the last flu season.
Todai-linked venture developing technology for speedy home flu test
Every winter, people running a fever and complaining of muscle pain swarm the nation's clinics, suspecting one thing: the flu. An estimated 12 million to 16 million people in Japan come down with the flu every year. When flu season is in full swing, it ...
Japan looks to update flu measures after avian influenza outbreak
Government officials and scientists are moving to update countermeasures for a possible influenza pandemic after this winter's global spread of avian flu. Researchers plan to review the government's death toll estimate from a possible flu pandemic that was drawn up more than a decade ago ...
Schools close, hospitals swell as influenza spikes
Japan sees a surge of 400,000 influenza cases in just one week as patients rush to get doctor’s notes instead of resting.
Japanese researchers have recently begun a clinical study of the flu drug Avigan to see if it can cure a tick-transmitted infectious disease that has a relatively high fatality rate and no effective treatment. Avigan, developed by a unit of Tokyo-based Fujifilm Holdings Corp., is ...
