Ministry: 4 dead after China H1N1 inoculation

BEIJING: China's Ministry of Health said here Tuesday that four deaths had been reported after inoculation of China-made A(H1N1) flu vaccine and three had been confirmed irrelevant to the vaccines.

The three deaths were "coincidental" and causes of the other death are yet to be finalized, Liang Wannian, director of the ministry's emergency response office, said at a press conference.

Of the 26.18 million people nationwide who had been vaccinated by Monday, 2,867 suspected adverse reactions had been reported, Liang said. About four fifths of the reactions were fever or swelling.

"Clinical tests and practices in China and other countries have shown the A(H1N1) flu vaccines are safe," Liang said.

As of Sunday, the Chinese mainland had reported 178 deaths from the flu. More than 90,000 people were infected and nearly 80 percent had recovered.

Liang warned that the flu situation in China was still "severe" with an increasing number of deaths and more counties and municipalities reporting confirmed cases.

The proportion of A(H1N1) flu also increased greatly to about 90 percent of all flu cases in the past weeks.

Liang said schools were still the main venue for prevention.