VITAMIN-A-DEFICIENCY - A SERIOUS THREAT IN DODOTA DISTRICT IN CENTRALETHIOPIA

A total of 147 children, aged from six months to six years were examin ed for signs of xerophthalmia in a village in Arsi zone of Ethiopia. N ight blindness, Bitot's spots, corneal ulceration and corneal scars we re observed in 17.0%, 26.5%, 2.7% and 0.7% of the children respectivel y. The concentration of serum retinol was measured in all children wit h xerophthalmia and every twentieth of the remaining children, Serum r etinol levels were in the deficient range (< 0.35 mu mol/l) in 31.9% a nd low (0.35 -0.69 mu mol/l) in 48.9% of the children. There was a hig her prevalence of stunting (24.5%) than wasting (18.4%) with an additi onal 10.2% of children being both stunted and wasted. The prevalence o f diarrhoea was twice as high in children with xerophthalmia than chil dren without (p<0.01).