[Anchor]

As the new school semester begins, flu cases are spreading rapidly, centered mainly around elementary school students, while COVID-19 patients are also on the rise. With flu vaccinations not yet underway, special care for health management during this seasonal transition is strongly advised.

Reporter Jeong Banseok.

[Reporter]

A mother holding her 6-month-old child visited a hospital in Seoul.

Following her eldest child, who is an elementary school student, her third child also contracted the flu.

[Jang Yeon-hee / Guardian of a 6-month-old: My children and I have never missed a single vaccination every year, but I hadn't gotten it yet this year because it wasn't time for the shots. But now the flu has hit all of a sudden, and I'm so flustered.]

In the fourth week of last month, suspected flu patients reached 13.3 per 1,000 outpatients, more than double the figure from the same period a year ago.

For elementary school students, the figure stood at 36.5 per 1,000, nearly three times the average across all age groups.

Influenza outbreaks have been unusually increasing since late August, and the flu is also spreading in countries like Japan and China.

While the exact cause has not yet been identified, the reopening of schools is believed to have contributed to the spread.

[Bang Seung-jun / Pediatrician at Our Kid's Hospital: Patients with the flu and COVID-19 have already been increasing significantly since August. With the children's school reopenings in September overlapping, the number of patients is surging...]

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) plans to issue a flu advisory as early as tomorrow (the 11th).

This is the earliest since 2009, when the new influenza (H1N1) was widespread.

COVID-19 hospitalized patients also increased from 61 to 109 within a week, raising concerns about a simultaneous epidemic.

[Park Wan-beom / Professor of Infectious Diseases at Seoul National University Hospital: Because it can spread simultaneously with COVID-19, it seems necessary to get vaccinated against both COVID-19 and the flu a bit earlier.]

Flu vaccinations for children and pregnant women will begin on the 21st of this month, and for those aged 65 and older, on the 12th of next month.

Since it takes two weeks for antibodies to form, the virus could spread further during the Chuseok holiday.

The KDCA urged the public to get vaccinated as soon as possible according to the schedule and to practice personal hygiene such as handwashing and wearing masks.

(Video by Ha Ryong | Video Editing by Yoon Tae-ho | Design by Kim Han-gil)