Infectious diseases claimed 1,530 lives on the Chinese mainland last month, and nearly one third of the deaths were caused by A/H1N1 influenza, Xinhua quoted the Ministry of Health (MOH) as saying. A total of 28,779 A/H1N1 flu cases were reported on the mainland in December, of which 447 were fatal, said a report posted on the MOH website Monday. A/H1N1 influenza, categorized as a class B infectious disease by the MOH, had killed 659 Chinese as of Jan. 2. More than 120,000 A/H1N1 flu cases had been reported on the mainland, of which 111,057 had recovered during that period. A total of 331,455 cases of class B infectious diseases were reported on the mainland in December, slightly up from 319,536 the previous month. Of those, 1,305 were fatal. Viral hepatitis, tuberculosis, A/H1N1 influenza, syphilis and dysentery were the top five infectious diseases in this category, accounting for 93.8 percent of all cases. No cases of plague and cholera were reported in December on the mainland. 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 addition, 25 of the 152,837 cases of class C infectious diseases reported were fatal. About 86 percent of the deaths were caused by infectious diarrhea, hand-foot-mouth disease (HFMD), and influenza.
