The effects of vitamin A supplementation on the morbidity of children born to HIV-infected women.

Study answer

What this study found

Vitamin A supplementation reduced overall morbidity through 18 months of age, with the clearest benefit for diarrhea-related outcomes. The odds ratio for all morbidity was 0.69 (0.48, 0.99), diarrhea was 0.71 (0.47, 1.08), diarrhea lasting 7 days was 0.62 (0.32, 1.20), and hospitalization for diarrhea was 0.23 (0.04, 1.20). Benefits were reported as larger among HIV-infected infants, while mortality was not reduced. Growth was not adversely affected; weight gain from 1 to 9 months was 4.42 kg in the vitamin A group versus 4.84 kg in the placebo group.

Study & population

Double-blind, randomized trial in infants born to HIV-infected women at King Edward VIII Hospital in Durban, South Africa.

Intervention

The active regimen was oral vitamin A as retinyl palmitate, given at 1 and 3 months as 50,000 IU, at 6 and 9 months as 100,000 IU, and at 12 and 15 months as 200,000 IU.

Key limitation

The vitamin A arm was small, with only 60 enrolled infants, and several outcome estimates had wide confidence intervals that crossed 1.

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Original abstract