Rampant prostitution which has accompanied china,s rapid economic growth is fuelling a 30% increase in syphilis infections each year,state media reported on saturday.Syphilis was almost wiped out in china 50yrs ago,but has increased 10-fold over the past decade to emerge as one of the country,s top five infectious diseases,the china Daily said,quoting the ministry of health.The rate of mother to child transmissions jumped alarmingly to 57 cases per 100,000,newborns between 2003 and 2008,from a previous seven cases per 100,000,it said.The report follows an article in the New England journal of medicine last month that said one child was born with syphilis in china each hour as infected men pass it onto their wives,who in turn pass it to their foetuses.It added that, a third of homosexual men were also married due to social pressures,further increasing transmission to spouses.However,the spread of syphilis in china is further fuelled by a social stigma that discourages suffers from seeking treatment,experts have said.Massage parlours and other venues for prostitution are ubiquitous in chinese cities,despite it being illegal.The newspaper said 6million chinese women were believed involved in the sex trade,but other independent estimates have put the figure twice as high.Dr Jerry.