Infectious diseases kill 17,315 on Chinese mainland

Infectious diseases killed a total of 17,315 people across the Chinese mainland in 2012, according to figures from the Ministry of Health on Friday.

The top five infectious diseases, in terms of the number of deaths they caused, were acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), pulmonary tuberculosis, rabies, viral hepatitis and epidemic hemorrhagic fever, a ministry statement said.

A total of 11,575 people died of AIDS in 2012, up from 9,224 in the previous year, it said.

The number of deaths caused by pulmonary tuberculosis (2,662), rabies (1,361), viral hepatitis (747) and epidemic hemorrhagic fever (104) last year all dropped from 2011.