scarlet fever

That's what Thomas Tsang, controller of Hong Kong Centre for health protection, said the outbreak of scarlet fever epidemic struck the region - killed a second child in Hong Kong - believed to be caused by a mutant strain of scarlet fever, which is resistant to antibiotics .

Certain features of the new strain likely to be infected, said Yuen Kwok-Yung, a professor of microbiology at the University of Hong Kong. He said the new strain resistant to antibiotics 60 percent, while 10-30 percent of the previous lines, he said. The 5-year-old boy who died of scarlet fever on Tuesday confirmed Wednesday. The 7-year-old girl who died in May was the first patient die of the disease in Hong Kong for at least a decade.

Hong Kong had 466 cases of scarlet fever reported so far this year, nearly double the full year. And the epidemic has spread to neighboring regions. Nearly 9,000 cases were reported in mainland China have doubled in recent averages, the Hong Kong Standard newspaper, citing health officials. Near Macau 49 cases, a jump of 16 in 2010, the Macao Daily Times.