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Rebecca Voelker, JAMA contributor

JAMA. 1998;279:1058.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Vitamin K should be considered in the growing list of micronutrients being added to foods to prevent deficiency diseases in children of poor nations, according to a new report.

In the February issue of the American Journal of Public Health, researchers from Brazil and the United States recommend that vitamin K supplementation in foods and possibly in BCG vaccine should be investigated to prevent severe hemorrhagic disease in newborns in the least developed nations. Severe hemorrhagic disease has a case fatality rate of 14%, but about 40% of infants who survive have long-term neurologic handicaps, the researchers noted.

The researchers estimate that the incidence of severe hemorrhagic disease is about 28 per 100000 births in less developed nations, compared with 7 per 100000 births in industrialized countries. Even though the incidence is small in some areas, the researchers said the consequences are so severe and . . . [Full Text of this Article]