Journal of tropical pediatrics
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Impact of vitamin A supplementation through different dosages of red palm oil and retinol palmitate on preschool children.
Red palm oil (5 ml and 10 ml), ground nut oil fortified with 400 and 800 retinol equivalent retinol palmitate, and ground nut oil (5 and 10 ml), were administered to six groups of preschool children (four experimental and two control groups) in randomly assigned balwadis of Ramanathapuram District of Tamil Nadu for a period of 7 months, to monitor the difference in the efficacy of the mode of supplementation and the optimum dose for improving vitamin A status. Results show that red palm oil groups recorded more gain in retinol and beta-carotene levels compared to other dosage groups, and that administration of 10 ml did not offer any substantial improvement over the 5-ml daily dose.
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This study was designed to assess the value of procalcitonin in establishing the diagnosis and evaluating the prognosis of neonatal sepsis. Thirty-four infants with neonatal sepsis were included in the study. Procalcitonin values of the cases with sepsis were (2.21 +/- 2.48 ng/ml) significantly higher than the values in the control group (0.71 +/- 0.5 ng/ml; p = 0.01). ⋯ Initial mean procalcitonin levels of the cases resulting in death were 4.31 +/- 3.66 g/ml. This was significantly higher than the initial values of the patients who had clinical recovery (1.18 +/- 1.24 ng/ml;p = 0.02). Procalcitonin is a valuable marker for diagnosis, for evaluating prognosis and response to therapy in neonatal sepsis.