I. General Situation of the Epidemics

In the 31st week of 2008 (from 0 a.m. on August 4 to 12 p.m. on August 10), 3,659 cases of 15 kinds of legally defined infectious diseases and 2 dead cases (namely 1 case of tuberculosis and 1 case of hepatitis B) were reported. Among them, there are 1,493 cases of 10 types of Type B infectious diseases, down 0.67% from last week and down 41.93% over last year. The top five categories of diseases with the highest incidence rates are: dysentery (843 cases), tuberculosis (264 cases), hepatitis B (142 cases), syphilis (62 cases) and measles (50 cases); 2,166 cases of five kinds of Type C infectious diseases were reported, up 2.61% over last week and down 39.51% over last year. Moreover, infectious diarrhea, hand-foot-mouth disease, epidemic parotitis, urticaria and acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis make up 59.20 % of the total number of legally defined infectious disease cases, down 39.51% over last year.

II. Analysis of the Major Epidemics

(1) Hand-foot-mouth disease
This week 377 cases were reported, down 10.66% from last week. The top five districts and counties with the most reported cases are: Fengtai, Haidian, Chaoyang, Tongzhou, and Changping, accounting for 55.70% of the total number. Those infected are mainly scattered-living children and kindergarten kids. They take up 90.72% of the reported patients.

(2) Diarrhea
This week 843 cases are reported throughout the city, up 6.71% over last week and down 58.62% over last year. Scattered-living children, cadres, students, retirees and unemployed people account for 73.07% of the reported patients.

Ⅲ. Key Notes
As autumn has arrived, the weather is not so broiling and damp any more, and the number of reported infectious diseases remains stable. However, according to the historical statistics regarding infectious diseases, August usually sees significant increase in intestinal infectious diseases. Therefore, it is necessary for health authorities at different levels to remain fully alert, strengthen surveillance and prevention against intestinal infectious diseases, disseminate knowledge about health, and foster among all citizens the awareness of the importance of food hygiene and safety so that viruses can be prevented from entering human bodies.