Officials with the Ministry of Health arrived in east China's Anhui Province Monday afternoon to investigate into the hepatitis A accident that killed one child and sickened more than 120 others.

The inspection team also include experts with China Center for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), according to information office of CDC.

The Ministry of Health is going to strengthen regulation of vaccine and discipline health workers nationwide, according to sources with the Department of Disease Control and Prevention under the ministry.

Chinese State Council on March 24 issued a regulation on vaccine circulation and inoculation management, which took effect on June 1. The regulation clearly stated that disease prevention and control institutions must check the qualification permit of vaccine producers before purchasing.

However, the health center at Dazhuang Town, Sixian County, bought 3,000 hepatitis A vaccine from a drug businessman in Chuzhou City of Anhui, and organized village doctors to vaccinate about 2,500 students in 19 schools in 17 villages on June 16 and 17 without permission of local health and education departments.

More than 120 students have reported dizziness, breath difficulties and limb numbness so far and one six-year-old girl died on June 23.

"The Dazhuang health center violated law on drug management and the newly-effected regulation," said Wu Zhongqiang, deputy director of Food and Drug Supervision Administration of Sixian County.

Three health workers have been detained for malpractice by local police authorities. The rest vaccines have been sealed, and the samples were sent to Beijing for test and the result has not been available, said Liu Zilin, head of Anhui provincial food and drug supervision department.

Source: Xinhua