Vitamin A levels and mortality among hospitalized measles patients, Kinshasa, Zaire

Abstract

Treatment with high dose vitamin A has recently been recommended for children with measles in communities where vitamin A deficiency is a recognized problem. However, the relationship between vitamin A and measles mortality has not been clearly established. We studied serum vitamin A levels in 283 children less than or equal to 5 years of age admitted to Mama Yemo and Kalembe Lembe Hospitals in Kinshasa, Zaire, between January and March, 1987. Vitamin A levels were determined by high performance liquid chromatography. Vitamin A levels ranged from less than 5 to 63 micrograms/dl (median, 8). The overall case-fatality rate was 26 per cent. On univariate analysis, age less than 24 months, pneumonia on admission, lymphopenia (less than 2000/mm3), and lower vitamin A levels were associated with death during hospitalization. In a multivariate logistic regression model, a vitamin A level less than 5 micrograms/dl was associated with fatal outcome for children younger than 24 months old (relative risk = 2.9, 95 per cent CI 1.3, 6.8), but not for older children. Further studies are needed to determine whether low vitamin A levels predispose children to severe measles and the role of vitamin A supplements in the prevention of measles mortality.