BEIJING, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- At least 11 infant deaths in China may be linked to vaccination for hepatitis B, officials said Friday.
The Gansu Provincial Health and Family Planning Committee said a boy in Lanzhou, the provincial capital, died after receiving a vaccine made by Dalian Hissen Bio-Pharm Inc. The baby was buried without an autopsy, but officials said the vaccination could be the cause.
Health officials in Zhejiang province in eastern China said another baby died Dec. 21, a day after receiving a hepatitis B shot. In that case, the parents buried the infant without reporting the vaccination at the time.
The parents have now consented to an autopsy, officials said.
Nine other deaths of babies who had just received vaccinations have been reported since November. Vaccines manufactured by three different companies have been linked to deaths, but most of the infants had received vaccines made by BioKangtai of Shenzhen in Guangdong province.
