Two people who used an herbal drug that was implicated in one death remained in critical condition Friday in northwest China's Qinghai Province, a hospital official said.

The patients had improved but they still had life-threatening symptoms, said Wang Xiaobo, vice president of the Qinghai People's Hospital.

Both had used Shuanghuanglian, an injected herbal preparation, which was recalled nationwide after a third person in the province died Tuesday.

All three developed fever and breathing difficulties after receiving injections Monday and Tuesday in the Datong Hui and Tujia Autonomous County of northwestern Qinghai Province.

The deceased was a 62-year-old woman who died in a hospital.

Tian Zengcheng, 48, was diagnosed with acute renal failure when he arrived at the hospital Tuesday. After emergency treatment and dialysis, his condition improved but he was still weak and had difficulty urinating, the hospital said.

Tian's problems began when he caught a cold and went to a clinic in Dongmen Village, Datong Hui-Tu Autonomous County in Qinghai on Sunday, said his niece Tian Guiping.

Doctors gave him a two-day supply of drugs, including Shuanghuanglian, the herbal drug that came from the northeastern Heilongjiang Province. He developed symptoms Monday.

The other patient, Wang Rongfa, a man of 51, had liver failure. Wang's condition had stabilized and he was sleeping well, said wife Li Dejie.

An expert team of 12 members was set up in the hospital, and experts were summoned from Beijing and Shanghai.

An investigation was launched in Jiamusi City, Heilongjiang, as a task force composed of the Heilongiang food and drug administrative bureau and its local bureaus confiscated parts of two batches of the product, made by the Jiamusi factory of the Wusuli River Pharmacy.

An initial investigation showed that the batch numbers were 0809028 and 0809030. The factory produced 505 and 576 boxes, one box containing 450 injections, for the two batches, respectively.

More than 400,000 injections of the two batches were sold in Qinghai, Heibei, Heilongjiang and Shandong provinces, according to the State Food and Drug Administraion.

The administration and the national Ministry of Health had started to recall the batches nationwide.

The factory manufactured nine batches with 5,076 boxes so far this year. It had 615 boxes in storage, which were sealed off by the local government.

No more reports of similar cases had been received, said the National Center for ADR Monitoring, which had launched testing on the drugs.

Shuanghuanglian injections are used to treat fever and coughs caused by colds, doctors said.

(Xinhua News Agency February 14, 2009)