Evidence is growing that Japan could be hit by a full-blown measles epidemic this spring like the one in 2007 that caused hundreds of schools to shut down for months due to the highly contagious disease.
Measles infections are actually on pace to dwarf the number of cases reported in 2007, according to a new tally of all measles patients across Japan released Friday by the National Institute of Infectious Diseases.
According to the study, the first of its kind, 145 measles infections were reported by medical institutions in the two-week period ending Jan. 13. Kanagawa Prefecture topped the list with 44, followed by Hokkaido with 22, Fukuoka with 16, Tokyo with 13 and Akita with 10. Teens accounted for 44 percent of all patients.