Hebei Province, the center of the contaminated baby formula scandal, on Wednesday said it had 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.

Three infants have died so far. There were at least 6,244 infant victims of the contaminated milk powder, among whom 158, or 2.5 percent, have acute kidney failure, the Ministry of Health said on Wednesday.

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.

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.

(Xinhua News Agency September 17, 2008)