Beijing -
Eight people have been arrested in southern China for producing and selling fake rabies vaccines that were used by local clinics and led to the death of a four-year-old boy, state media said on Monday.
Authorities in the Guangxi region earlier this year uncovered more than 1 260 doses of the illegal vaccines, most of which had been used in hospitals and clinics in the city of Laibin, the China Daily reported.
The vaccines were produced in an underground workshop and sold for a total of 330 000 yuan (about R344 890).
The boy, who had been bitten by a dog, died in December last year after receiving six rabies shots.
Rabies has emerged as a major public health concern in China. The government said last year China was second only to India in annual human deaths from rabies, averaging more than 2 000 per year in recent years.
China has repeatedly pledged to notify the public in a timely manner of any health risks from product safety scandals, which are common and widely blamed on lax supervision of the country's giant food and drug industry. - Sapa-AFP