past decade

The syphilis epidemic has begun to take its toll in China, with the number of new infections increasing by 30 percent each year. In May alone, the mainland reported more than 32,000 syphilis cases, including two deaths, making the sexually transmitted disease one of the top five infections in the country, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said. The disease, which is actually easy to cure, was virtually eradicated in China in the 1960s, but remerged in the 1980s to record a tenfold increase in the number of cases over the past decade.

The syphilis epidemic has begun to take its toll in China, with the number of new infections increasing by 30 percent each year. In May alone, the mainland reported more than 32,000 syphilis cases, including two deaths, making the sexually transmitted disease one of the top five infections in the country, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said. The disease, which is actually easy to cure, was virtually eradicated in China in the 1960s, but remerged in the 1980s to record a tenfold increase in the number of cases over the past decade.