(かんじゃすう)

かんじゃすう
noun
number of patients
1. the number of patients (with a particular illness, at a hospital, in a region, etc.)
A statistical noun for a count of patients. Combines 患者(かんじゃ) ("patient") with the productive suffix ~(すう) ("number of, count of"). Heard most often in news reports and medical statistics — for example, the number of patients with a contagious disease, the number of patients at a hospital, or the number of patients in a particular age bracket.
患者数(かんじゃすう)()えている。
The number of patients is increasing.
今年(ことし)のインフルエンザの患者数(かんじゃすう)例年(れいねん)より(おお)い。
This year's number of flu patients is higher than usual.
(ふゆ)になると病院(びょういん)患者数(かんじゃすう)急激(きゅうげき)増加(ぞうか)する。
Once winter arrives, the number of patients at hospitals rises sharply.
厚生労働省(こうせいろうどうしょう)毎週(まいしゅう)感染症(かんせんしょう)患者数(かんじゃすう)都道府県(とどうふけん)(べつ)発表(はっぴょう)している。
The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare announces the number of infectious-disease patients by prefecture each week.

患者数(かんじゃすう) is a routine compound used wherever patient counts are discussed — public health reports, hospital statistics, news coverage of outbreaks. It is built from the everyday word 患者(かんじゃ) plus ~(すう), a highly productive suffix for forming "number of X" nouns.

FORMATION:

  • 患者(かんじゃ) ("patient") + ~(すう) ("number of, count") → 患者数(かんじゃすう)

COMMON COLLOCATIONS:

  • 患者数(かんじゃすう)()える / ()る: the number of patients increases / decreases
  • 患者数(かんじゃすう)急増(きゅうぞう)する: to rise sharply
  • 患者数(かんじゃすう)ピーク(ぴーく): peak in patient numbers
  • 累計(るいけい)患者数(かんじゃすう): cumulative patient count
  • 新規(しんき)患者数(かんじゃすう): number of new patients
  • 1(にち)あたりの患者数(かんじゃすう): number of patients per day

RELATED ~(すう) COMPOUNDS:

  • 人数(にんずう): number of people
  • 死者数(ししゃすう): number of deaths
  • 感染者数(かんせんしゃすう): number of infections
  • 利用者数(りようしゃすう): number of users
  • 来場者数(らいじょうしゃすう): number of visitors / attendees

SIMILAR / RELATED TERMS:

  • 患者(かんじゃ): a patient (the base noun)
  • 感染者(かんせんしゃ): an infected person (a more specific term in disease-outbreak contexts)
  • 陽性(ようせい)者数(しゃすう): number of positive cases (used during the COVID-19 pandemic)
  • 重症(じゅうしょう)患者(かんじゃ): a seriously ill patient

USAGE NOTES:

  • During major disease outbreaks, the daily 患者数(かんじゃすう) or 感染者数(かんせんしゃすう) becomes a closely watched statistic in Japanese news.
  • The ~(すう) suffix is freely productive: speakers can readily form new ~(すう) compounds (e.g., 外来(がいらい)患者(かんじゃ)(すう) "outpatient count") even when those compounds are not formally listed in dictionaries.