One more person from central China's Hubei Province was killed after receiving an antibiotic injection that is suspected to have caused the death of a six-year-old girl and sickened 48 others.

The dead, identified to be Shang Hongfen, 48, from Yidu, a city in Yichang, was hospitalized at the No.1 People's Hospital of Yidu for suppurative nasosinusitis on July 23, according to information from Hubei Provincial Adverse Drug Reaction (ADR) Monitoring Center.

The woman patient started to have intravenous injection produced by the Anhui Huayuan Worldbest Biology Pharmacy Co. in east China's Anhui Province, on July 25, but she became very ill, with symptoms including chill and stomach discomfort. She died on August 2.

Before this case, the problematic drug is also suspected of having caused the death of the six-year-old Liu Sichen from Harbin, capital of northeastern China's Heilongjiang Province, on July 27. Liu was injected with the drug while being treated for a common cold on July 24.

Ten other people in Hubei were also sickened after having intravenous injection of the same drug, bringing the total number of the people sickened by the problematic drug to 48.

The State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) said the victims became ill after receiving the medicine produced by the Anhui Huayuan Worldbest Biology Pharmacy Co. in Anhui Province.

The administration has recalled and banned the use of the clindamycin phosphate glucose injection that is used to treat bacterial infections.

It has also ordered Anhui Provincial Food and Drug Bureau to track and locate all batches of the drug.

The Chinese Ministry of Health on Thursday issued an urgent circular banning use of the drug produced by the Anhui Huayuan Worldbest Biology Pharmacy Co.
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(Xinhua News Agency August 5, 2006)