Neonatal vitamin A supplementation and infant survival.

摘要

Vitamin A supplementation given to p neonates within a few days of birth has been proposed as a strategy to improve infant survival. A meta-analysis of five trials showed no overall survival benefit, but confidence intervals were wide and did not exclude the possibility of an important benefit (relative risk 0.92, 95% Cl O-75-1.12). Three large randomised controlled trials are currently ongoing in Ghana, India, and Tanzania to resolve this issue. An additional randomised controlled trial testing the same intervention in low birthweight infants was published earlier this year by Benn and colleagues. Overall, this trial found no effect on infant mortality but reported a significant interaction with sex.