Researchers in Papua New Guinea and the United States have teamed up to try to determine if vitamin A supplementation may reduce complications from malaria in children.
In the July 17 Lancet, researchers at the Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research and Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health and Hygiene reported on 480 children aged 6 to 60 months who received high-dose vitamin A or a placebo every 3 months for 13 months. The children were from an area of Papua New Guinea where Plasmodium falciparum is endemic. They were evaluated at regular intervals as part of the study and at community-based surveillance programs where they could seek treatment.
At the end of the study period, episodes of P falciparum fever were 30% lower in children who received vitamin A than in the control group. Younger children reaped greater benefits from the supplements. Those aged . . . [Full Text of this Article]
