The wholesaler who supplied the hepatitis A vaccines reportedly responsible for killing one and hospitalizing 300 schoolchildren in Anhui Province was arrested early on Monday morning.
Zhang Peng, a 29 year old based in Chuzhou, had disappeared after reports broke that a child died after being immunized in Sixian County on June 17. Local police said they were seeking him for not having a license to sell medicine.
He allegedly sold 3,000 doses of a vaccine produced by Pukang Biotech in Zhejiang Province to a number of primary and secondary schools.
Three local health workers, who are believed to have mediated between health providers and schools, were arrested earlier in connection with making money from the deal.
All but 40 of the children hospitalized had been discharged by Saturday and the others are still under medical observation, said Wang Zhen, spokesperson for the county government.
She claimed that local parents' and students' concerns have been assuaged after talks from medical professionals.
Last Wednesday, Health Minister Gao Qiang intimated that there may have been nothing wrong with the vaccine and that the illnesses were the result of mass panic, though he refused to speculate further until more evidence had come to light.
The cause of the six year old girl's death has not been determined since her funeral went ahead without an autopsy being performed, according to the local health department.
The sale and use of vaccines produced by the Zhejiang company were banned on the orders of central government last week.
There was no further news on the epidemic hemorrhagic fever vaccinations in Jilin Province that reportedly left 44 school children ill, four of whom were hospitalized on Thursday but later discharged.
(China Daily July 5, 2005)
