Vitamin A deficiency and intestinal parasitism coexist in developing countries. This study evaluated whether a national program of vitamin A supplementation (200,000IU retinyl palmitate every 6 months), if combined with deworming (400mg albendazole), slows reinfection with Ascaris . A baseline survey of 595 indigenous preschool children in the Bocas del Toro region of Panama showed high rates of stunting (61%) and nematode infection (Ascaris 79.5%, Trichuris 19%). All children were dewormed and 328 were included in the 5 month follow-up study. Of these, 106 children received vitamin A supplementation through the Ministry of Health (Vit A S+) and 222 children received no supplementation (Vit A S-). At 3 months post deworming, both the prevalence (P= 0.0004) and intensity (P= 0.0124) of Ascaris infection were higher in Vit A S- children than in Vit A S+ children, indicating that reinfection occurred more slowly in supplemented children. When the two supplement groups were further sub-divided by stature, Vit A S+ resulted in lower reinfection rates (P=0.0002) only in normal height children, and not in stunted children. Despite the tendency of public health policy to target malnourished children our study provides evidence of increased benefit of vitamin A supplementation in normal height children living in areas with chronic parasitosis.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.98764 |
| Date | January 2005 |
| Creators | Payne, Leslie G. |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Science (School of Dietetics and Human Nutrition.) |
| Rights | © Leslie G. Payne, 2005 |
| Relation | alephsysno: 002495093, proquestno: AAIMR24765, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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