No abstract

Vitamin A deficiency is a major cause of blindness and severe morbidity and mortality in young children. Supplementation of vitamin A in the community might reduce child mortality rates. The safety of high dose of vitamin A administered to neonates is not clear. We randomized 2058 neonates to receive either a single dose of 50 000 IU oral vitamin A (n=l031) or placebo (n=l027). Bulging fontanel and head circumference were assessed before and throughout 48 hours following dosing. Cranial ultrasound examination was carried out in 972 infants before and 24 hours after dosing to rule out intracranial hemorrhage and determine resistive index (Rl) of the anterior cerebral artery. Slight bulging fontanel occurred in 2. 7% and 4.4% of the infants at 24 hours. Moderate bulging fontanel was seen in 0.1% of study group, no severe bulging was observed. At 48 hours slight bulging fontanel was observed in 2.4% of control group and 4.5% in study group. No intracranial hemorrhage was found. Mean RI values were normal in both groups at baseline or 24 hours. Bulging fontanel was not associated with increased signs or symptom, or with increase in RI. Single oral dose of 50 000 vitamin A may cause a small increase in intracranial volume in a small proportion of infants, without increase in intracranial pressure.

P opulation in developing countries increases at a rapid rate, as does their consumption of energy. The energy for industry, domestic use, and transportation releases various pollutants into the atmosphere, including sulphur oxides (SO 2 Effect of particulate matter (PM 10) pollutant concentration on peak expiratory flow rate score in junior high school students Objective This study was designed to assess the impact of different PM 10 concentration to PEFR score among junior high school students who live in two areas.Methods It was a descriptive analytical study with cross sectional design to junior high school students who lived in areas with high PM 10 i.e, Cililin sub district (252.63 mg/m 3 /h) and low PM 10 i.e., Paseh sub district (27.15 mg/m 3 /h). PEFR was measured by using Mini Wright Peak Flow Meter and body weight by microtoire. Data of indoor pollutants were collected from questionnaires.