1,764 died of infectious diseases in China

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.