Deaths From Infectious Disease in China Rise By 82 Per Cent

Text of report by Josephine Ma, carried by Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning Post website on 14 February

Infectious diseases killed 82 per cent more people on the mainland last year than in 2004, according to government statistics.

The diseases claimed 13,263 lives, compared with 7,248 in 2004. The number of reported infectious disease cases also rose by 13 per cent to 4.42 million in 2005.

An 83 per cent rise in the mortality rate from category A and B infectious diseases was also reported. Among the top killers were tuberculosis, rabies, AIDS, hepatitis B, and neonatal tetanus. These five diseases caused more than 89.4 per cent of the deaths from category A and B infectious diseases.

The most common infectious diseases in China are tuberculosis, hepatitis B, dysentery, gonorrhoea and syphilis.

However, the mortality rate from category C infectious diseases, which include diseases such as influenza and acute infectious diarrhoea, dropped by 20 per cent.

The Ministry of Health said there was a leap in infectious respiratory diseases last year, with measles and tuberculosis cases rising 73.52 per cent and 29.03 per cent.

Although there were no nationwide outbreaks of infectious diseases, the ministry said many outbreaks were reported in individual areas last year.

For example, a meningitis outbreak was seen in Anhui and a measles outbreak in Zhejiang during spring, while cholera was rampant in Fujian and Zhejiang in summer. In summer and autumn there was a Streptococcus suis outbreak in Sichuan, and cases of malaria have persisted in Anhui.

Mainland authorities also reported seven human cases of bird flu in 2005, with five victims dying.

These cases were found in six provinces and regions: Anhui, Hunan, Fujian, Liaoning, Guangxi and Jiangxi.