Title
Vitamin A supplementation has divergent effects on norovirus infections and clinical symptoms among Mexican children
Date Issued
22 October 2007
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Abstract
Background. The effect of vitamin A supplementation on viral gastrointestinal infections among young children living in developing countries remains unclear. Methods. The effect of vitamin A supplementation on norovirus (NoV) infection among 127 Mexican children 5-15 months of age was studied in a randomized, placebo-controlled trial during June-August 1998. Stool samples collected every 2 weeks and after diarrheal episodes were screened for NoV and characterized at the genogroup level (GI and GII). Results. Of the stool samples collected, 29.9% were positive for NoV, and NoV GI and NoV GII were found in 55.4% and 46.4% of the positive samples, respectively. Vitamin A supplementation reduced the prevalence of NoV GII infections (rate ratio [RR], 0.60 [95% confidence interval {CI}, 0.20-0.82]), increased the length of both NoV GI and GII shedding, and decreased the prevalence of NoV-associated diarrhea (RR, 0.51 [95% CI, 0.26-0.97]). Conclusions. These findings suggest that NoV is an important cause of pediatric diarrhea in this study population and that vitamin A supplementation has divergent effects on specific outcomes of NoV infection. © 2007 by the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved.
Start page
978
End page
985
Volume
196
Issue
7
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Enfermedades infecciosas
Gastroenterología, Hepatología
Pediatría
DOI
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-35348866116
PubMed ID
Source
Journal of Infectious Diseases
ISSN of the container
00221899
Sponsor(s)
Funding text.
Received 17 January 2007; accepted 14 March 2007; electronically published 22 August 2007. Potential conflicts of interest: none reported. Presented in part: Experimental Biology 2006, San Francisco, 2–6 April 2006 (abstract 399). Financial support: Instituto de Nutrición Danone, CONACYT (National Council of Science and Technology of Mexico); National Institutes of Health (grant K01 DK06142-02); University of Texas Health Science Center (unrestricted grant); Korea Research Foundation (grant E00080 to GP.K.). a Present affiliation: Division of International and Indigenous Health, School of Population Health, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. Reprints or correspondence: Dr. Kurt Z. Long, Div. of International and Indigenous Health, School of Population Health, University of Queensland, Herston Rd., Herston, Brisbane, Queensland 4006 Australia (k.long@uq.edu.au).
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