Related: Antibiotic injection kills 3, 78 others affected

             Antibiotic injection suspected of causing illness in 38 people

             More antibiotic injection recalled after 3 deaths¡¡¡¡

    HEFEI, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- A three-member investigation team from the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) is conducting a probe into a medical injection suspected of killing three people and making 78 others seriously ill across the country.

    The drug, clindamycin phosphate, is an antibiotic used to treat bacterial infections.

    An official with the provincial food and drug administration said Monday that the team had arrived at Anhui Huayuan World best Biology Pharmacy Co., producer of the injection, in east China's Anhui Province, to carry out the investigation.

    The team will investigate the raw and supplementary materials used for the injection, as well as the company's production and quality assurance processes, the official said.

    They will also check company production data and hold face-to-face interviews with staff, according to the official.

    Eighty-one cases of severe reactions to the drug have been reported in 10 provinces, according to the Adverse Drug Reaction Monitoring Center of the SFDA.

    The cases include three deaths. A six-year-old girl from Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, died on July 27 after she was injected for being treated for a cold.

    The other two victims included a male in his 70s in north China's Hebei Province and a 48-year-old woman in central China's Hubei Province, both of whom died after being given the injection in hospital in late July and early August.

    The link between the injections and the three deaths is being investigated.

    The Anhui Provincial Drug Examination Institute said most of the items examined so far, including the PH scale and the content of certain injection components, meet national standards for this drug.

    The institute, which has been investigating the case since July 30, said another major item is being examined but the result will not be known for perhaps two weeks.

    Meanwhile, a Ministry of Health work team is in Heilongjiang to carry out investigation at the No. 2 Hospital affiliated to Harbin Medical University. More than 10 patients who had adverse reactions to the injections are receiving treatment there.

    The team will collect information about the patients and hold group consultations, said Zhang Xiaoju, an official with the provincial heath department.

    An increasing number of patients from Qinghai, Guangxi, Zhejiang, Heilongjiang and Shandong have complained of symptoms ranging from chest pains, stomach ache, diarrhoea and nausea to vomiting and anaphylactic shock after being injected with the Anhui Huayuan product.

    More cases of adverse patient reactions to the injections have been reported since Friday in Liaoning Province, according to the provincial food and drug administration.

    Last Friday, the administration reported six cases to the SFDA of severe adverse reactions to the injections.

    In southern China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, a 40-year-old migrant worker surnamed Tang, who reacted badly to the injections last Thursday, is no longer in critical condition, according to Guilin City health authorities.

    "I developed stomach ache and high fever on July 31 when I was injected half a 100-milliliter bottle of the injection in a clinic in Guilin to treat my toothache," Tang said. He was immediately sent to a local hospital for emergency treatment.

    The Ministry of Health issued an emergent circular last week suspending use of the antibiotic injection.

    In Beijing, more than 7,000 bottles of the injections had been seized by Sunday, mostly in counties on the outskirts of the city, according to the municipal drug administration authorities. Beijing so far has reported no cases of adverse reactions to the injections.

    Of the 3.68 million bottles of the injection produced since June, the company has sold 3.18 million units to 26 provinces, regions and municipalities. Some 1.4 million units have been seized. Enditem