An outbreak of malaria has hit Kakamega County in Western Kenya after five more children below the age of five died at the region's referral hospital Thursday evening.

The latest development has brought the death to 12, with at least 100 children currently admitted at the facility. Last week, seven children died of malaria in the hospital.

Augustine Ajevi, hospital's Medical Superintendent, cited Friday blood shortage in the hospital as the major cause of deaths.

"We are experiencing blood shortage and this is complicating the fight against malaria, which has claimed the lives of 12 people in the past one week," Ajevi said.

He said efforts to contain the malaria outbreak have further been complicated by lack of screening equipment at the facility.

A spot check at the facility revealed the sorry state of facility recently upgraded to a Referral where mothers are forced to share bed with their sick children.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), malaria is one of the world's deadliest diseases, with statistics showing that 200 million people are infected annually and 660,000 die of the same. The worst hits are African children.

A 2014 report by the country's health ministry cites malaria as the leading killer of children and expectant mothers in the area, and estimated statistics is 35 percent of child deaths.

Figures released last month on the World Malaria Day estimated the prevalence of malaria in the region at 40.9 percent in children under five, and 36.9 percent in children above five years.

Most of the children aged between six months and five years are experiencing common symptoms like pneumonia, diarrhoea and weakness of the body.

Peninah Mukabane, Kakamega County Health executive said they were working on plans to roll out distribution of one million mosquito nets to families as one of the measures to curb malaria outbreak.

"We suspect that most families do not have mosquito nets. This has led to malaria outbreak," she said. "The death toll continues to rise even as medical scientists' work tirelessly to contain the epidemic."