Vitamin A and zinc supplementation of preschool children

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether supplementation of vitamin A and/or zinc (Zn) improved serum levels of these nutrients and/or height and weight gains in preschool children, 22 to 66 months, living in Belize, Central America. METHODS: Subjects received either Zn, vitamin A, Zn and vitamin A or a placebo (70 mg Zn and/or 3030 RE vitamin A, once per week) for 6 months in a 2x2 factorial design. Forty-three children, from a population of 104 prescreened, completed the study; they were selected, prior to treatment, for low/marginal serum concentrations of these micronutrients. RESULTS: Serum Zn levels were greater (16 percent, p < 0.001) for those who received Zn. In contrast, after vitamin A treatment, there were no differences in serum vitamin A among groups. Although increases in height (+4.4 cm, p<0.001) and weight (+0.79 kg, p<0.001), compared with baseline values, were numerically greatest for children who received both supplements, only the vitamin A supplementation effect was significant, resulting in increased height (+1.4 cm, p<0.002) and greater weight gain (+0.15 kg, p<0.03) compared to those receiving no vitamin A. Vitamin A supplementation alone significantly increased (p<0.001) hemoglobin concentration. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that the preschool children in this study, prescreened for low/marginal serum concentrations from a larger population prior to treatment, were enduring inadequate vitamin A and, to a lesser degree, Zn nutriture. Height and weight gain were significantly increased in the subjects who received a single weekly supplement 3030 RE of vitamin A.(Au)

Routine radiographic screening of the chest in pregnant women: is it indicated?

Experience with routine antepartum chest radiographic screening from July 1, 1976, through June 30, 1977, in a city-county hospital which serves a predominantly black indigent population was reviewed. The 5422 routine screening chest radiographs produced an extremely low yield of pathology (11 cases), and only 3 of the 11 cases were not suspected from the history of physical examination. Only 2 cases of active pulmonary tuberculosis were discovered, and both patients were recent immigrants from countries with a much higher incidence of tuberculosis. This low case finding probably reflects the general decline in incidence of pulmonary tuberculosis in the United States and suggests that routine screening chest radiographs (done primarily to exclude tuberculosis) are not longer indicated in our pregnant population (AU)