GUANGZHOU - Improper diagnosis and treatment behaviors in local clinics in a county of south China's Guangdong province have lead to Hepatitis C infections, the province's health department said Friday.

According to local media reports of late February, residents in the township of Zijin county said more than 200 people had become infected with Hepatitis C.

Residents suspected that medical malpractice could have lead to the infections.

On February 24, Guangdong Health Department organized an experts group to investigate the cases of Hepatitis C.

The investigation showed that cases had been identified since 2009, and an increasing number of cases had been identified because residents in the county had received tests recently.

As of February 28, the number of the infected people in the Zijin was 123, the county government confirmed Friday night.

According to the investigation, improper diagnosis and treatment behaviors in a local clinic, and patients receiving mouth disease treatment and receiving medicine intravenously, as well as mother-to-child transmission and sexually transmission were linked to the cases of Hepatitis C.

The provincial health department said they will normalize the treatments and strengthen Hepatitis C control publicity in the county.

According to local residents, all of the infected had received injections at a clinic in the township, with suspected reused needles.

Hepatitis C is viral and is mainly transmitted through contact with contaminated blood, although it can also spread through sexual contact and from mother to child during delivery. Infections can lead to liver cancer.