Beijing: Over 200 people in China, including many children, have been infected with the hepatitis C virus after reusing needles at a rural clinic.
Till Dec 1, 105 people from Dancheng of Woyang county in Anhui province tested positive for the disease, while 104 people in Maqiao of Yongcheng city in Henan province also tested positive, a health official told Xinhua.
Investigators are focusing on a 60-year-old doctor at a privately-run clinic in Maqiao, who is suspected of causing the infection by reusing old needles.
Residents said the doctor, who has been practising for four decades, seldom changed needles.
He is reportedly called the "miracle doctor" for his ability to alleviate patients` fever and diarrhoea through injections and a few tablets.
Hepatitis C is mainly transmitted through contact with infected blood. It can also spread through sex, and from mother to baby during delivery.
IANS
