A surge of influenza cases in countries across Asia has led some medical experts to warn that getting sick more easily throughout the year may be the new reality.

Health authorities in Japan declared a nationwide flu epidemic on Oct. 3 after a wave of flu cases came five weeks earlier than expected for flu season, the country’s second-earliest flu outbreak in 20 years. More than 4,000 people in Japan were treated for influenza between Sept. 22 and Sept. 28. The country’s Ministry of Health said that equated to an average of 1.04 patients per monitored medical institution, surpassing the threshold for an epidemic. The number of patients treated for influenza has since increased to over 6,000 people from Sept. 29 to Oct. 5, corresponding to a per-institution patient count of 1.56, mor

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