How many people were hospitalized due to the melamine contamination?

• A. 294,000
• B. 1,000
• C. 6
• D. 52,000

Answer: (D)

The key idea is identifying the specific metric: how many people needed hospital care due to the melamine-contaminated milk. In the 2008 melamine scandal, a large number of infants developed kidney problems and were treated in hospitals, with about 52,000 requiring hospitalization. This figure is about hospitalizations, not total illnesses or deaths.

So the correct figure reflects those who required medical admission, not just those who became ill or those who died. The other numbers correspond to different measures: hundreds of thousands were affected in total, the death toll was very small (a few lives), and 1,000 isn’t the hospitalization count reported for this incident.