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China syphilis infections up 30% each
year: report
10-FOLD RISE: Rapid economic growth has spurred huge population movements and
a massive prostitution industry that have led to the resurgence of the disease
AFP , BEIJING
Sunday, Jun 13, 2010, Page 5
Rampant prostitution, which has accompanied Chinaˇ¦s rapid
economic growth, is fueling a 30 percent increase in syphilis infections each
year, state media reported yesterday.
Syphilis was almost wiped out in China 50 years ago, but has increased 10-fold
over the past decade to emerge as one of the countryˇ¦s top five infectious
diseases, the China Daily said, quoting the Ministry of Health.
The rate of mother-to-child transmissions jumped alarmingly to 57 cases per
100,000 newborns between 2003 and 2008, from a previous seven cases per 100,000,
it said.
The report follows an article in the New England Journal of Medicine last month
that said one child was born with syphilis in China each hour as infected men
pass it on to their wives, who in turn pass it to their fetuses.
It added that at least a third of homosexual men were also married due to social
pressures, further increasing transmission to spouses.
Syphilis is a bacterial infection that can be easily treated with antibiotics if
diagnosed early, but if left untreated can lead to paralysis, blindness and
death.
However, the spread of syphilis in China is further fueled by a social stigma
that discourages sufferers from seeking treatment, experts have said.
China had 32,000 new reported infections last month alone, including two deaths,
the China Daily said.
Chinaˇ¦s rapidly growing economy has spurred huge population movements and a
massive prostitution industry that have led to the resurgence of syphilis, the
newspaper quoted experts saying.
ˇ§Massage parlorsˇ¨ and other venues for prostitution are ubiquitous in Chinese
cities, despite it being illegal.
The newspaper said 6 million Chinese women were believed involved in the sex
trade, but other independent estimates have put the figure twice as high.
No other country has seen such a rapid rise in syphilis cases since the
discovery of penicillin, the New England Journal of Medicine article said.
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