Hebei Province, the center of the contaminated baby formula scandal, on Wednesday said it hard received reports of 638 sick infants in one day.
Gao Chunqiu, deputy chief of the provincial health department, told a press conference that 12,510 people consulted medical facilities in the province between midday on Monday and midday on Tuesday, and 638 babies were diagnosed with urinary calculus (stones).
"Statistics-wise, there was a notable rise in the number of people seeking medical consultations, but the percentage of those tested showing positive results plunged from 9.2 percent on Monday to 5.1 percent on Tuesday," Gao said.
The scandal emerged after infants fed with milk powder produced by Hebei-based Sanlu Group were found to have developed kidney stones. A nationwide investigation ensured, 22 Chinese dairy companies were found by the State Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) to have produced baby milk powder contaminated with melamine, including Yili and Mengniu.
A woman her baby return Sanlu brand milk powders in a supermarket in Yinchuan, capital of northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Sept. 17, 2008. The Chinese government on Wednesday announced a comprehensive nationwide tests for melamine on every dairy product by every producer after a third infant died after drinking contaminated milk powder, The State Administration for Industry and Commerce, which supervises product quality at retail level, also ordered all the tainted products to be immediately be taken off shelves. (Xinhua/Liu Quanlong) Three infants have died so far. There were at least 6,244 infant victims of the contaminated milk powder, among whom 158, or2.5 percent, have acute kidney failure, the Ministry of Health said on Wednesday.
Saleswomen check the returned Sanlu brand milk powders in a supermarket in Yinchuan, capital of northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Sept. 17, 2008. (Xinhua/Liu Quanlong) In Hebei alone, 1,499 babies were diagnosed with urinary calculus, of whom 150 were hospitalized. The rest were treated at outpatient facilities.
As the scandal emerged, the Hebei Provincial Government ordered a province-wide general inspection of food safety last Saturday.
A supermarket staff registers the returned Sanlu brand milk powders in a supermarket in in Hefei, capital of east China's Anhui Province Sept. 17, 2008. (Xinhua/Chen Yehua) Medical experts said most of the sick infants did not show acute clinical symptoms. They suggested that infants who show minor symptoms could be cured by relatively simple means, such as being given more drinking water or -- for older infants -- exercising more to dislodge stones.
Patients with acute symptoms, such as blockages, urinary tract infections, or serious amounts of blood in their urine, should be hospitalized, they said.
Source: Xinhua
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