Deng Haihua, deputy director of the General Office of Ministry of Health, talks to media on Tuesday, April 6, 2010 in Beijing, during a press conference on the vaccine scandal in north China's Shanxi Province, which reportedly left four children dead and more than 70 ill. [china.org.cn]

The Ministry of Health Tuesday confirmed three children's illness were related to vaccines, reported to be problematic in north China's Shanxi Province.

Among the 15 children named by previous media report, two did report adverse reactions caused by vaccines and another one's illness can not be ruled out of the effect of vaccines, said Deng Haihua, the ministry's spokesperson, at a press conference in Beijing.

On March 17, the Beijing based China Economic Times run by the Development Research Center of the State Council reported, citing Chen Tao'an, a whistleblower who worked with the Shanxi CDC in 2007, that nearly 100 children had died or fell ill in Shanxi after taking shots of the vaccine.

The report named 15 children out of 78 that received vaccines including encephalitis, hepatitis B and rabies at different times. Four children died between 2007 and 2008, and 74 were sickened, according to the report.

"The cause of the illness of the rest 12 children were not related to vaccines," Deng said.

(Xinhua News Agency April 6, 2010)