(MosNews)- -
Kazakh authorities say at least 49 children have been infected with HIV in hospitals in the south of the country, Radio Free Europe reported on Friday.

Authorities in Shymkent instigated wide-scale testing after the discovery in July that 14 children had been inflected. They believe the children were infected with the virus by non-sterilized syringes, or transfusions of contaminated blood in three separate children�s hospitals in the area.

The Kazakh Health Ministry confirmed the new figure in a statement, saying more than 6,000 children remained to be tested for HIV in the region.

Kazakh parliamentarian Yerasyl Abylkasymov on September 6 said he had asked the prosecutor-general�s office to prosecute Southern Kazakhstan Region�s health and administration officials.