China reported 201 cases of cerebrospinal meningitis in December, and 14 people died of the disease, according to the Ministry of Health.

There were three times more cases and ten more fatalities than in November, reported the ministry.

The ministry ordered local health departments to tighten supervision over the control of infectious diseases, making prevention work in middle and primary schools a priority.

Last December saw 801 people die of class A and B epidemics among the total 307,910 cases reported in China.

Epidemics are classified into A, B and C in China based on nature, transmission channel and speed. The most pandemic diseases -- including plague, cholera and SARS -- fall into the epidemic A group. Epidemic B diseases are spread in less easy channels and at a lower speed, including typhoid fever, dengue fever, scarlatina. C category is for the least infectious, including tuberculosis, snail fever, mumps and leprosy.

Rabies, tuberculosis, AIDS, hepatitis B and neonatal tetanus are listed as the top five killers, accounting for 89.89 percent of the deaths caused by epidemics A and B.

Tuberculosis, hepatitis B, bacterial diarrhea, amoebic dysentery, syphilis and gonorrhea were said to have highest incidence rates, accounting for 85.81 percent of the total epidemic A and B cases.

China reported 88,859 cases and nine deaths of epidemic C last December, 96.32 percent of which were affected by infectious diarrhea, mumps and flu.

(Xinhua News Agency January 11, 2007)