抄録
Infection with a novel swine-origin influenza A (H1N1) virus was identified in April 2009 in North America and the virus spread worldwide rapidly. The level of influenza pandemic alert was raised to 6 by the World Health Organization (WHO) on June 11. As of 20 September 2009, there have been more than 300,000 laboratory-confirmed cases of pandemic influenza H1N1 and 3,917 deaths in 191 countries and territories reported to the WHO.
The first infected patient in Japan, apart from onboard quarantine cases, was confirmed on May 16 in Hyogo Prefecture, adjacent to Osaka Prefecture, and the number of patients began to increase in the two prefectures. Using the real time RT-PCR system, a total of 1,023 laboratory-confirmed cases were reported in Osaka Prefecture (excluding Osaka city and Sakai city) by July 25. Following a revision of the infectious diseases control law, notification of all cases of pandemic influenza H1N1 was no longer required in Japan after July 25. The present paper summarizes the situation to date regarding pandemic influenza H1N1 infection in Osaka Prefecture.
