Infectious diseases kill 1,669 on Chinese mainland in July

Infectious diseases claimed 1,669 lives on the Chinese mainland in July, with AIDS contributing to 70 percent of the deaths, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said Tuesday.

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A total of 5,552 AIDS cases, which is categorized as a Class B infectious disease by the MOH, were reported on the mainland in July, of which 1,173 were fatal, a report posted on the MOH website said.

Eleven cholera cases were reported on the mainland, but with no deaths. And no cases of plague were reported. Both diseases are categorized as Class A infectious diseases, the most serious, under China's Law on the Prevention and Treatment of Infectious Diseases.

In July, a total of 349,864 cases of Class B infectious diseases were reported on the mainland. Of those, 1,591 were fatal.

Viral hepatitis, tuberculosis, syphilis, dysentery and gonorrhea were the top five infectious diseases in this category, accounting for 95 percent of all cases, according to the report.

In addition, 78 of the 416,233 cases of Class C infectious diseases reported were fatal, and 75 deaths were caused by hand-foot-mouth disease, the MOH said.