Lower Vitamin A Dose Prevents Child Mortality, Morbidity

COPENHAGEN, Denmark--Half the recommended dose of vitamin A as outlined by the World Health Organization (WHO) was more effective than the full dose at preventing mortality and morbidity in children with polio, according to a study published in BMJ (British Medical Journal) (331, 7,530:1,428-32, 2005).

Researchers from Statens Serum Institut and Projecto de Saúde de Bandim in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau, conducted a combined oral polio vaccine and vitamin A supplementation campaign on 4,983 children aged 6 months to 5 years. Test subjects were given either half the recommended dose or the full dose of vitamin A, and oral polio vaccine, and were monitored for mortality and morbidity at six and nine months of treatment.

Mortality was lower in children who took half the recommended dose of vitamin A compared with the full dose at both six months and nine months. These results appeared to be gender-linked, with the lower dose of vitamin A being associated with significantly reduced mortality in girls but not in boys. Paradoxically, the low dose was associated with slightly higher morbidity in children aged 6 to18 months.

The researchers concluded half the dose of vitamin A currently recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) may provide equally good or better protection against mortality but not against morbidity.

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