A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial of vitamin A in Mozambican children hospitalized with non-measles acute lower respiratory tract infections

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to test the potential of routine vitamin A supplementation at admission to speed up recovery during hospitalization for acute lower respiratory tract infections (ALRI) and to decrease the levels of morbidity at 6 weeks after discharge. The study was conducted in the Central Hospital of Maputo (CHM), Mozambique, from 1995 to 1997. METHODS: Children aged 6-72 months with ALRI admitted to the paediatric wards of the CHM were assigned to a supplementation group (n = 71, receiving 200 000 IU of vitamin A) or a control group (n = 93, receiving a placebo). RESULTS: The prevalence of vitamin A deficiency was very high and similar between the two groups. The median number of inpatient days for the supplementation group was 3, for the placebo group 4 days. On day 5 the rate of clinical discharge was 88.4% (n = 61/69) in the experimental intervention group and 73.9% (n = 65/88) in the placebo group (P = 0.023). CONCLUSION: We found a statistically significant reduction in duration of admission among vitamin A-supplemented children with ALRI. This effect is in line with what is known about the role of vitamin A in human defence and immune mechanisms and with the serological evidence of the extent of vitamin A deficiency among the children in this trial.