From AFP:
Syphilis, virtually eradicated in China under Mao Zedong, has become a viciously-growing epidemic there, driven by prostitution, internal migration and poor health controls, a new study warns…
In 2005, it had surged to 5.7 cases per 100,000, a figure that may well be a serious under-estimate, according to the paper by Chinese epidemiologists.
In addition, the number of babies born with syphilis has shot up. Congenital syphilis occurred among just 0.01 per 100,000 live births in 1991; in 2005 it was 19.68 — an annual rise of nearly 72 percent over that time. [Full Text]
Here is the background information of “Prostitution in the People’s Republic of China” from Wikipedia.
View the China Daily version AFP story here.