1,764 died of infectious diseases in China

Beijing: A total of 1,764 people died of infectious diseases on the Chinese mainland in December alone, the country`s health and family planning authorities said Friday.

The National Health and Family Planning Commission also announced that a total of 549,233 infectious disease cases were reported in December alone, Xinhua reported. Among them, no cases of Class A infectious diseases were reported. Plague and cholera are categorised as Class A infectious diseases, the most serious category. In addition, about 283,312 cases, which resulted in 1,743 deaths, were identified as Class B infectious diseases. Hepatitis, tuberculosis, syphilis, dysentery and gonorrhea accounted for 94 percent of the cases in this category, the commission said in a statement. However, category C infectious diseases claimed 21 lives in December, with infectious diarrhea, foot-and-mouth disease and influenza reported most frequently, it added.