Reference: West,Jr, K.P.; Khatry, S.K.; LeClerq, S.C.; Adhikari, R.; See, L.; Katz, J.; Shrestha, S.R.; Pradhan, E.K.; Pokhrel, R.P.; Sommer, A. (1999). Bulletin of the World Health Organization - Tolerance of Young Infants to a Single, Large Dose of Vitamin A: a Randomized Community Trial in Nepal, WHO. URL-http://apps.who.int/iris/ Provision of large, oral doses of vitamin A to preschool children on a periodic basis is an effective
strategy for treating and preventing xerophthalmia and vitamin A deficiency in developing countries (1-3). Vitamin A supplementation of children over 6 months of age can also markedly reduce mortality in areas of endemic deficiency (4-7). A single dose of 60 000 ,ug retinol equivalents (RE) (200 000 IU) every 3-6 months is currently recommended by WHO for the prevention of xerophthalmia in children aged .1 year (1, 8). Only recently, however, was a controlled clinical trial carried out to quantify the rate of mild, transient side-effects associated with this schedule (9). WHO also recommends that 30 000 RE (100 000 IU) be given to infants aged 6-11 months (8). In 1982 it was suggested that newborns be dosed with 15 000 RE (50 000 IU) of vitamin A at birth as a preventive measure
(1). In 1988 WHO identified non-breast-fed infants in the first 6 months of life as a potentially high-risk target group for this dosage (8). In view of the established link between adequate vitamin A nutriture and child survival (4-7, 10) and the possibility
of reaching infants through primary health care and special child survival initiatives, there is a need to document carefully the risks of administering large doses of vitamin A during the first 6 months of life. To address this question, we carried out a
controlled trial on infants aged 6 months or younger in Nepal.
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Publisher:
WHO
,
(1992
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Type / Script:
Bulletin or Poster
in English
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Keywords:
CHILD HEALTH, CHILD SURVIVAL, CHILD MORTALITY, INFANTS, HEALTH RESEARCH, CHILD NUTRITION, SIDE EFFECT, VITAMIN A SUPPLEMENT, COMMUNITY TRIAL, CLINICAL REPORT, TRAINING, PRIMARY HEALTH CARE.
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Thematic Group:
WHO
:
World Health Organization
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Thesaurus:
10.02.00
- Comprehensive Health Services
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Reference Link:
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