VITAMIN-A-DEFICIENCY AND XEROPHTHALMIA IN WESTERN YEMEN

Objective: To determine the prevalence of xerophthalmia and the extent of vitamin A deficiency in western Yemen. Design: A stratified cluste r sample of children aged 1-5 years with clinical examination for sign s of xerophthalmia as well as blood serum survey. Setting: The 18 dist ricts of western Yemen, of which 10 clusters were chosen at random. Su bjects: All children aged 1-5 years resident in the cluster sites (n = 2438). Main outcome measures: Clinical signs of xerophthalmia, a hist ory of night blindness, serum retinol levels in a random sample of cli nically normal children (n = 338) in addition to all children with xer ophthalmia. Results: Night blindness was found in 0.5% of the children , Bitot's spots in 1.7%, corneal ulceration in 0.04% and corneal scars in 0.04%. Of the subsample, 7.2% (95% confidence interval [c.i.] 4.4- 10.0%) had serum retinol values below 10 mu g/dl; 63.0% (95% c.i. 57.6 -68.4%) had values below 20 mu g/dl. Conclusions: Xerophthalmia and vi tamin A deficiency are public health problems in western Yemen.