Nightblindness and Vitamin A Deficiency in Children Attending a Diarrheal Disease Hospital in Bangladesh

The prevalence of nightblindness, an early in dicator of vitamin A deficiency, was assessed in children attending a diarrheal disease hospital in Bangladesh. Five per cent of 2971 children between 1 and 10 years complained of nightblindness and 47 per cent of these children as against 6 per cent of children without nightblindness also had ocular signs of vitamin A deficiency (p.<0.01). Children with nightblindness compared to those without were significantly more likely to be undernourished, and to have a prolonged illness with dysentery and infections with Shigella and Entamoeba histolytica. Serum levels of vitamin A were below 10 μg/dl in 17 nightblind patients and were significantly lower in these patients than in 13 age-matched controls without nightblindness (p<0.001). In areas where vitamin A deficiency is common, vitamin A supplements and locally relevant nutrition education should be offered to children at high risk for vitamin A deficiency, especially if they have a history of nightblindness.