The Study Of Effect Of Vitamin A In Children With Pneumonia

Objective To study vitamin A concentration in the acute and recovery phase of pneumonia in younger children and the effects of vitamin A supplementation on treatment of vitamin A deficiency infants and children aged 1 month to 24 months with pneumonia.Methods (1)Compared vitamin A concentration in children with acute pneumonia(n=173, mean age:9.17±1.03 months) and healthy children(n=182, mean age:10.11±2.01 months).(2) 65 patients from acute pneumonia with vitamin A deficiency were classified into study group and control group randomly. Study group patients(n=35 ) were treated with vitamin A, and control group patients(n=30 ) were not treated with vitamin A, and ompared the two groups` vitamin A concentration in recovery stage; (3) Followed-up the status of the respiratory tract infections in two groups for 6 months.Results (1) The vitamin A concentration in acute pneumonia children was obviously lower than that in healthy children (0.99±0.60μmol/L vs 1.17±0.33μmol/L, P<0.05). (2) The vitamin A concentration in acute stage was obviously lower than that in recovery stage both in study group and in control group (0.48±0.13μmol/L vs 0.97±0.33μmol/L and 0.48±0.12 μmol/L vs 0.77±0.33μmol/L, respectively, P<0.001). However, vitamin A concentration step up more in study group than that in control group (0.48±0.33μmol/L vs 0.29±0.31μmol/L, P<0.05). Vitamin A concentration in recovery stage was still lower than the normal level 1.05 umol/L. (3) In the followed 6 months, the respiratory tract infections of the control group were more severe than that of the study group. The mean infection times was 1.70±1.12 times and 1.09±1.25 times respectively (P<0.05), and the mean infection days was 10.2±6.58 days and 5.26±5.97 days respectively (P<0.01).Conclusions (1) The vitamin A concentration in pneumonia was lower than that in healthy children.(2) The vitamin A concentration in recovery stage was higher than that in acute stage of the pneumonia children, and in recovery stage the vitamin A concentration in study group was higher than that in control group(.3)Vitamin A supplementation to vitamin A deficiency patients with acute pneumonia could decrease the morbidity rate of respiratory tract infections and shorten the duration of infections.