Forty-four school children became sick after vaccination in northeast China's Jilin Province, local hospital sources said Saturday. 

 

The epidemic prevention center in the city of Tumen vaccinated 135 adults and 2,990 students against epidemic hemorrhagic fever (EHF) from May 12 to June 22.

 

Parents of 44 school children from the city's No. 3 primary school reported that their kids got sick after the vaccination. Four kids were sent to a local hospital on Thursday.

 

The incident came weeks after unclean hepatitis A vaccination in eastern Anhui Province killed one child and sickened more than 120 others.

 

Examination showed that 33 kids developed rash of various kinds on trunks and limbs, two kids suffered slight fever and 16 had symptoms of respiratory tract infection, according to doctors.

 

The kids are now in better condition and all have left hospital, doctors said.

 

The provincial public health department dispatched experts to Tumen for investigation, and similar inoculation was suspended in the province, said an official with the department.

 

Jilin is a province with high occurrence of EHF. It saw 61.5 percent more EHF cases in the first five months this year than the same period last year. 

 

(Xinhua News Agency July 3, 2005)