Victims of Melamine Contamination

The following photographs are Chinese infants that have been exposed to Melamine laced infant milk, and are undergoing treatment for kidney problems, including kidney stones.

The links are to medical reports regarding the victims of the Chinese Melamine contamination medical crisis. About 53,000 children have fallen ill with various urinary problems including kidney stones after taking Sanlu milk food. About 13,000 infants are still being treated in hospitals as a result. China Daily

Anthony Hazzard, the Western Pacific director of the World Health Organization, said 82 percent of the children made sick by the formula were 2 years old or younger. The sick included 12,892 babies in hospitals, 39,965 who have received outpatient treatment, and an additional 1,579 patients discharged from hospitals, he said, citing China's Ministry of Health.

According to the Health Ministry, of the 53,000 sickened children, 12,892 remain hospitalized, with 104 in serious condition. Another 39,965 children were treated and released. A total of five children outside the Chinese mainland, in Hong Kong and Macau, have been diagnosed with kidney stones after drinking Chinese-made milk products. A 16-month old child in the southern Chinese gambling enclave Macau was diagnosed after being fed Nestle milk powder made in China's northeastern Heilongjiang province. USA Today

Kidney stones, a rare complaint in infants, are small, solid masses that form when salts or minerals normally found in urine crystallize inside the kidney. Three babies in China have died and more than 6,000 have fallen ill after being fed tainted milk formula. SkyNews Video
Details of the children's deaths show the problem appeared to have gone undetected for months. The first victim, a five-month-old boy from the western city of Lanzhou, died on May 1 after falling into a coma, ministry officials said. The second, an eight-month-old girl also from Lanzhou, died under similar circumstances on July 22. USA Today

China's Ministry of Health has reported three infant deaths caused by melamine-laced milk between May and August. The government of the northwest Xinjiang region reported a fourth death on Sept. 18, without saying when it happened. The government hasn't provided an update on the death toll or the number of babies hospitalized since Sept. 21. Bloomberg

BEIJING: Like thousands of other parents, Gu Yinghua took his child to the kidney unit of a local children's hospital for free testing as China's tainted-milk scandal continued to widen. Another hospital had declared the 3-year-old boy healthy despite a steady diet of two brands of milk powder and two kinds of milk linked to a toxin that can cause kidney stones. But then his face began to swell.

The second hospital diagnosed kidney disease but not kidney stones, telling a disbelieving Gu to pay upfront for treatment that could last six months to two years. Gu and his wife, Xu Chongju, said they feel doubly cheated and are certain their son's illness is connected to China's latest food safety scare, which has outraged Chinese consumers, embarrassed the government and spurred food recalls in Europe and Asia. Washington Post


Lion cub, baby orangutans sick from Chinese milk SHANGHAI, China (AP) — A lion cub and two baby orangutans have developed kidney stones at a zoo near Shanghai, making them the latest victims of China's tainted milk crisis. (USA Today, 09/25/2008)