Vitamin A for Preventing Secondary Infections in Children with Measles: A Systematic Review

The objective of the present study was to determine whether vitamin A prevents pneumonia diarrhea and other infections in children with measles. A meta-analysis was carried out of randomized controlled trials identified through a systemic search of the medical literature for studies that used vitamin A to treat measles. A total of 492 children aged from 6 months to 13 years were supplemented with vitamin A and 536 children were given placebo in 6 trials 5 of which were conducted in hospitals and 1 in a community setting. The main outcome measures were: incidence of pneumonia diarrhea croup and otitis media; and duration of pneumonia diarrhea fever and hospitalization. There was no significant reduction in the incidence pneumonia or diarrhea but there was a 47% reduction in the incidence of croup (relative risk [RR] = 0.53; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.29-0.89) in children who were treated with 200000 IU of vitamin A on 2 consecutive days. Only 1 study reported a 74% reduction in the incidence of otitis media (RR = 0.26 95% CI = 0.05-0.92). There was a statistically significant decrease in the duration of diarrhea pneumonia hospital stay and fever in individual studies. It was concluded that vitamin A does have a beneficial effect on morbidity associated with measles and should be used as a treatment for hospitalized measles cases. (authors)