RANDOMIZED, DOUBLE-BLIND, PLACEBO-CONTROLLED CLINICAL-TRIAL OF EFFICACY OF VITAMIN-A TREATMENT IN NON-MEASLES CHILDHOOD PNEUMONIA

Objective: To evaluate the impact on clinical recovery and severity of the addition of large doses of vitamin A to the standard treatment fo r childhood pneumonia. Design: A randomised, double blind, placebo con trolled trial. Setting: Study children were recruited at a public hosp ital in Recife, north east Brazil, an area of marginal vitamin A defic iency. Subjects: 472 children aged 6 to 59 months with clinical diagno sis of pneumonia. Interventions: 200 000 IU (infants) or 400 000 IU (1 -4 year olds) of vitamin A in oil or similar capsules of placebo divid ed into two daily oral doses, in addition to the standard treatment. M ain outcome measures: Duration of the episode and incidence of adverse outcomes. Results: The groups were similar with respect to overall du ration of pneumonia and incidence of adverse outcomes, Children who re ceived vitamin A, however, were less likely to have fever by day 3 (P = 0.008) and were 29% less likely to fail to respond to the first line antibiotic (P = 0.054). Conclusion: There was little evidence for an effect of vitamin A treatment on the immediate outcome of the pneumoni a episode.