The number of children diagnosed with lead poisoning in Central China's Hunan province rose to 45 as of Monday evening, with local authorities expecting more cases in the coming days.

A woman feeds hier child, who was disgnosed with lead poisoning in Chenzhou Hospital of Chinese Medicine on Tuesday.

The patients, all younger than 14, are victims of the latest wave of lead pollution that came to light in Chenzhou city last week.

Thirty of them are being treated for abnormal levels of lead in blood at the Chenzhou Hospital of Chinese Medicine.

Another 152 villagers have been found with excessive lead levels in their blood, a result of excessive lead in the environment, Xinhua News Agency reported on Tuesday.

The number of children poisoned by lead might keep increasing, Liu Jianrong, deputy director of the hospital, was quoted as saying. He added that an increasing number of people have had medical examinations at the hospital over the past few days.

People who had undergone examinations between March 17 and March 22 totaled 285 in Chenzhou, according to Xinhua, citing data from the city's health authority. All of them come from Guiyang county.

Most of the patients diagnosed with lead poisoning are in stable condition after receiving medical treatment, said Wang Feixiong, a physician at the hospital.

Excessive amount of lead, a heavy soft metal, in the human body could harm the nervous and reproductive systems and cause high blood pressure or anemia. In more severe cases, it can cause convulsions, coma and even death.

In the latest case, some children have complained of abdominal pain, Wang said.

In the neighboring county of Jiahe, four officials were removed from their posts last Friday for negligence of duty in last year's lead poisoning case.

In September 2009, as many as 254 children younger than 14 were found with excessive lead levels in their blood in Jiahe. Four of them were diagnosed with lead poisoning.

Lead poisoning cases in Jiahe and Guiyang have received particular attention from the country's top environmental watchdog.

Several officials from the South China inspection center under the Ministry of Environmental Protection arrived in Chenzhou on Monday and rushed to Jiahe county to investigate the cases.

Figures from the Jiahe county government show that since the lead poisoning cases last year, 59 small plants which illegally discharged pollutants were shut down, while another 54 temporarily suspended operations.