Viveka Persson|Faruk Ahmed|M Gebre?Medhin|Ted Greiner
Relationships between vitamin A, iron status and helminthiasis in Bangladeshi school children
Uppsala University|University of Dhaka|Uppsala University|Uppsala University
explore relationships biochemical indicators vitamin iron status intestinal helminths ascaris lumbricoides hookworm primary school childrentwo rural governmental schools northwestern bangladeshcrosssectional studythe sample consisted 164 children grades 35serum retinol betacarotene highperformance liquid chromatography hplc haemoglobin hemocue ferritin enzymelinked immunoadsorbent assay eliza height weight measured dietary intake vitamin assessed using food frequency questionnaire faecal analyses done using stolls eggcount techniquethe mean serum retinol 268 microg dl1 20 level 20 microg dl1 cutoff value low vitamin status strong positive association serum betacarotene serum retinol r 044 p 0001 suggesting higher retinol levels higher carotene intake thirtyone per cent anaemic hb 115 g dl1 30 iron deficiency serum ferritin 120 microg l1 14 suffering iron deficiency anaemia children serum retinol level 20 microg dl1 significantly lower ferritin 140 compared 260 microg l1 p 0005 hb levels 117 compared 124 g dl1 p 0005 higher levels proportion iron deficiency anaemia significantly greater among children hookworm data suggest hookworm exerts impact iron status independently vitamin status hostprogrammes improve iron status consider including vitamin prevention programmes deworming