title: Vitamin A levels of children with measles in Ankara, Turkey.
abstract: Recent studies show that vitamin A levels decrease during measles and that vitamin A therapy can improve measles outcome in children in the developing world. Vitamin A levels of children with measles have not been studied before in Turkey. Therefore we measured serum vitamin A levels in 21 children with measles and compared the results with "sick" and "healthy" control groups. The mean vitamin A levels in children with measles were markedly lower than in the "sick" and "healthy" control groups (p: 0.001). Vitamin A levels in children with measles ranged from 1.3 to 32 micrograms/dl; 11 (52%) were vitamin A deficient (< 10 micrograms/dl). This frequency among Turkish children supports evaluation of vitamin A status as a part of acute management of measles in Turkey. Clinicians may wish to consider vitamin A therapy for children with measles according to WHO recommendations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Dr. Sami Ulus Children's Hospital, Ankara.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hatun
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Teziç
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kunak
authors.forename: A B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Cengiz
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008457:Measles / Q000150:complications* / Q000628:therapy; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology; D014801:Vitamin A / Q000097:blood / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014802:Vitamin A Deficiency / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D014801:Vitamin A