QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Newton, S. Articles by Kirkwood, B. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Newton, S. Articles by Kirkwood, B.

---

Nutritional Epidemiology

Vitamin A Supplementation Does Not Affect Infants’ Immune Responses to Polio and Tetanus Vaccines¹

Sam Newton^*,2, Simon Cousens, Seth Owusu-Agyei^*,, Suzanne Filteau, Carolynne Stanley, Louise Linsell^** and Betty Kirkwood

^* Kintampo Health Research Centre, Ghana; Nutrition and Public Health Interventions Research Unit, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK; and ^** Centre for Medical Statistics, Oxford University, Oxford, UK

²To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: sam.newton{at}ghana-khrc.org.

It has been suggested that administering vitamin A with the measles vaccine may reduce the vaccine’s immunogenicity. This trial examined the effect of supplementing vitamin A during the early months of life on infants’ immune responses to tetanus and polio vaccines. Young infants (n = 1085) were enrolled and individually randomized into 1 of 4 groups in a factorial, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Three vitamin A supplementation strategies were investigated: 1) supplementation of breast-feeding mothers with 60 mg retinol equivalent (RE) vitamin A within 4 wk of delivery; 2) Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI)-linked supplementation of infants with 7.5 mg RE vitamin A at 6, 10, and 14 wk; and 3) combined mother and child supplementations. A 4th group in which mother and child were given placebos served as controls. Blood samples were collected from each child at 6 wk and 6 mo of age to measure antipolio antibody titer, antitetanus toxoid antibodies, and avidity of antibodies to tetanus. Of the infants randomized into the 4 arms of the study, 767 (71%) completed follow-up at 6 mo of age. Follow-up rates were similar in all 4 arms (69–72%, P = 0.8). Antibody titers were relatively high in all 4 groups at both 6 wk and 6 mo of age, with no differences among the groups. We found no evidence that vitamin A supplementation affects infants’ antibody responses to tetanus toxoid or oral polio vaccine delivered at EPI contacts.

KEY WORDS: • vitamin A • poliomyelitis • immunization • tetanus toxoid • immune response