BEIJING, July 17 (Xinhua) -- More than 170,000 cases of adverse drug reactions were reported in China last year, a 300-fold increase over the figure 17 years ago, said an official with the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA).

    Yan Min, head of the drug safety supervision department, said fewer than 600 cases of adverse drug reaction (ADR) were reported in 1988, but the number soared to 173,480 in 2005.

    An adverse drug reaction (ADR) is an unwanted effect following treatment with a medicine or combination of drugs. It can range from a skin rash to respiratory failure, heart attack and sudden death.

    "(The rise) does not mean ADRs are too many now, but is the result of high rates of misreporting of such cases in the past," said Yan at a seminar titled Medicine Safety -- Reasonable Use of Drugs on Digestive System Illness.

    The seminar also looked into issues concerning drug over-prescription, especially of antibiotics, in China. Prof. Sun Zhongshi, of the SFDA, said more than 800 million Chinese each year suffered from diarrhea, and up to 84 percent were treated with antibiotics. Enditem