Health ministry: 20% of population may be infected with new flu

Saturday 29th August, 06:54 AM JST

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kyoken at 10:27 AM JST - 29th August

[...] and that the number of infections may be smaller than estimated if [...]

The ministry should write horoscopes. It might be better or worse, but in the government we can trust.
iraira at 11:06 AM JST - 29th August

Two shots of the vaccine are required, and need to be spaced about 3-4 weeks apart. Then the body requires about a month to develop adequate resistance to the virus. So, everyone will be ready for this particular genotype of the virus by December...just in time for Xmas shopping.
Farmboy at 12:27 PM JST - 29th August

I foresee Tamiflu parties in the future. The government will sell the flu party kits. There will be small Hello Kitties with masks included. Another marketing sensation to sweep the world.
bgaudry at 01:01 PM JST - 29th August

Why does the "news" always seem to be speculation these days? How about reporting something that actually happened, instead of guesses and predictions about things that may occur in the future?
Farmboy at 01:33 PM JST - 29th August

If all these numbers about the past week are correct, then Japan has more H1N1 cases than any other country in the world. (http://flutracker.rhizalabs.com/)

Congratulations!
Apsara at 01:41 PM JST - 29th August

bgaudry, I totally agree. Y2K, the imminent invasion of Japan by hooligans during the soccer world cup, the idea that bird flu might mutate into a supervirus and kill us all and now the same with swine flu- tell me about it when it happens. This kind of speculation comes up so often in the news these days, and much of the time it turns out to be completely unfounded.
roomtemperature at 02:52 PM JST - 29th August

"Why does the "news" always seem to be speculation these days? How about reporting something that actually happened, instead of guesses and predictions about things that may occur in the future?"

Well, actually that's exactly what the JT audience does every day, right? Speculating, guessing, betting, assuming....etc. Why? Guess!!!

And when the news actually follows bgaudry's wishes and report something when it actually happens, then everyone whines about the fact that "they" are too late!
peachy871 at 02:58 PM JST - 29th August

Farmboy...which numbers are you looking at? Japan doesn't have very many cases compared to some other countries. I am going on the map that appears on the link that you posted.
Farmboy at 03:56 PM JST - 29th August

Earlier in the day, the National Institute of Infectious Diseases said in a preliminary report that about 150,000 people are estimated to have become infected with influenza in the week up to last Sunday, considered mostly the new strain of the flu.

peachy871,

I was looking at the number 150,000, which is supposed to be one week's infections,most of which are for H1N1, and is almost as much as the total for the world so far. I maintain that this number is wrong, but if it's right, it's an amazing number.
kirakira25 at 06:12 PM JST - 29th August

I think the world number must be wrong, or at least old data. In the UK alone up until recently there were tens of thousands of cases per week being reported. I think at some point a few weeks ago they stopped reporting on numbers (the WHO) so maybe it is old data.
DenDon at 09:01 PM JST - 29th August

bad headline, shoddy
Sarge at 09:29 PM JST - 29th August

This is great news for the medical industry.
sageb1 at 02:49 AM JST - 30th August

To prevent infection, get more sun and drop sunblock for more berries.
Farmboy at 07:02 AM JST - 30th August

I think the world number must be wrong, or at least old data. I

Certainly it's going up every day. It looks like this morning's number of confirmed cases for the world is around 390,000 (unconfirmed is higher).
harmoneeikaiwa at 01:42 PM JST - 30th August

More ill informed scare mongering.