TOKYO —Japan has a rapidly increasingly number of syphilis patients including among young women prompting the health ministry to launch a special research team to find out ways to stop the spread of the sexually transmitted infection.
东京报道——日本出现了快速增长的梅毒病例，包括在年轻妇女当中，这促使卫生部发起了一个特别的研究团队以寻找方法来阻止不断扩大的性传播疾病。According to data based on reports filed by hospitals across Japan the number of syphilis patients totaled 4259 as of early December up 77% from 2412 in the corresponding period a year earlier and more than seven-fold from a decade ago.
根据全日本医院填写的报告所提供的数据，截止到12月初，梅毒患者共4259例，相比去年同期的2412例，同比上升了77%，和10年前相比，翻了7倍还不止。The infection is believed to have spread mainly through heterosexual intercourse. But the number of mother-to-child transmissions which has been very rare in Japan is also on the rise.
这些传染被认为主要通过异性之间的性行为进行传播。但是以往在日本非常罕见的母婴传播的数量也在攀升中。
The Ministry of Health Labor and Welfare has been urging people who feel they may have been infected to be tested immediately as the disease can be transmitted despite the absence of symptoms.
日本卫生福利部已经敦促那些感觉已经被传染的人立刻接受检测，因为该病可能在没有症状的情况下进行传播。Infections are especially rife in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward where numerous entertainment and nightlife businesses operate with the number of syphilis patients reported by hospitals in the ward accounting for 40 percent of Tokyo’s total and 20 percent of cases across the whole of Japan.
东京新宿区的传染扩散得尤为严重，这里聚集了大量得夜生活场所，据医院统计这里有着全东京40%、全日本20%的梅毒患者。