Flu Cases on the Rise...Health Authorities Urge Vaccination and Personal Hygiene

The detection of flu virus in Gyeonggi Province has increased in recent times, highlighting the importance of vaccination as well as personal hygiene management.

Following the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) issuance of an influenza epidemic alert, Gyeonggi Province has maintained a high level of influenza virus detection rate and urged caution regarding vaccination, hand washing, and respiratory etiquette.

The influenza epidemic alert was issued on September 11, approximately one month earlier than last year's October 17, and flu infection cases have been increasing since then.

Authorities are urging vaccination. The national free influenza vaccination program began on the 21st of last month and is available free of charge at designated medical institutions and public health centers for children, pregnant women, and seniors aged 65 and over. Medical institutions can be verified through the KDCA Vaccination Information Assistant website (nip.kdca.go.kr).

According to test results conducted by the Gyeonggi Province Institute of Health and Environment on respiratory symptomatic patients who visited 18 sentinel surveillance medical institutions in the province, the influenza virus detection rate was 4.0~6.1% in August but increased to 26.4% in September. By the end of September, it decreased to 14.3%, but remains at a higher level than before the alert was issued.

Influenza has an incubation period of 1-4 days (average 2 days) after infection, followed by symptoms such as fever, cough, headache, myalgia, rhinorrhea, and sore throat. In particular, seniors aged 65 and over, children, pregnant women, and patients with chronic diseases face a higher risk of complications such as pneumonia and require special caution.

Kim Myeong-gil, head of the Infectious Disease Research Division at the Gyeonggi Province Institute of Health and Environment, urged, "As the influenza epidemic alert has been issued and the province continues to maintain high levels of virus detection, we urge the public to actively participate in vaccination and to practice personal hygiene such as hand washing and proper respiratory etiquette while strictly adhering to safety guidelines."