Browsing by Author "Perry, Robert T."
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Item Effect Of Periodic Vitamin A Supplementation On Mortality And Morbidity Of Human Immunodeficiency Virus–Infected Children In Uganda: A Controlled Clinical Trial(Nutrition, 2005) Semba, Richard D.; Ndugwa, Christopher; Perry, Robert T.; Clark, Tamara D.; Jackson, J. Brooks; Melikian, George; Tielsch, James; Mmiro, Francis; F.R.C.O.G.We investigated whether vitamin A supplementation would decrease mortality and morbidity rates in children infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial at Mulago Hospital, a large hospital that serves the urban and semiurban populations of Kampala, Uganda. One hundred eighty-one HIV-infected children were enrolled at 6 mo and randomized to receive vitamin A supplementation, 60 mg retinol equivalent, or placebo every 3 mo from ages 15 to 36 mo. Morbidity was assessed through a 7-d morbidity history every 3 mo, and vital events were measured. Children received daily trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole prophylactic therapy.After age 15 mo, children were followed for a median of 17.8 mo (interquartile range = 11.1 to 21.0 mo). The trial was stopped when there was a new policy to implement a program of mass supplementation of vitamin A in the country. Mortality rates among 87 children in the vitamin A group and 94 children in the control group were 20.6% and 32.9%, respectively, yielding a relative risk of 0.54 (95% confidence interval, 0.30 to 0.98; P = 0.044) after adjusting for baseline weight-for-height Z score. Children who received vitamin A had lower modified point prevalences of persistent cough (odds ratio, 0.47; 95% confidence interval, 0.23 to 0.96; P = 0.038) and chronic diarrhea (odds ratio, 0.48; 95% confidence interval, 0.19 to 1.18; P = 0.11) and a shorter duration of ear discharge (P = 0.03). Vitamin A supplementation had no significant effect on modified point prevalences of fever, ear discharge, bloody stools, or hospitalizations.Vitamin A supplementation decreases mortality rate in HIV-infected children and should be considered in the care for these children in developing countries.Item Iron Deficiency Anemia Is Highly Prevalent among Human Immunodeficiency Virus–Infected and Uninfected Infants in Uganda(The Journal of nutrition, 2002) Totin, Dana; Ndugwa, Christopher; Mmiro, Francis; Perry, Robert T.; Jackson, J. Brooks; Semba, Richard D.Although anemia is a common finding among human immunodeficiency (HIV)-infected infants in sub-Saharan Africa, the factors contributing to the pathogenesis of anemia have not been well characterized. We sought to characterize the relative contribution of iron deficiency and chronic disease to the anemia among infants. Hemoglobin, ferritin, erythropoietin, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), neopterin, CD4+ lymphocyte count and plasma HIV load were measured in 165 HIV-infected and 39 uninfected 9-mo-old infants seen in an outpatient pediatric clinic in Kampala, Uganda. Among HIV-infected and uninfected infants, the prevalence of anemia (hemoglobin < 110 g/L) was 90.9 and 76.9%, respectively (P = 0.015), and the prevalence of iron deficiency anemia (hemoglobin < 110 g/L and ferritin < 12 μg/L) was 44.3 and 45.4%, respectively (P = 0.92). The relatively higher prevalence of anemia among HIV-infected infants was attributed to the anemia of chronic disease. Among infants with and without iron deficiency, the fitted regression line was log10 plasma erythropoietin = 2.86 − 0.016 · hemoglobin, and log10 plasma erythropoietin = 4.11 − 0.028 · hemoglobin, respectively, with a difference in the slope of the regression lines between log10 erythropoietin and hemoglobin among infants with and without iron deficiency (P = 0.049). Infants in Uganda have an extremely high prevalence of anemia, and nearly half of the anemia is due to iron deficiency. The erythropoietin response to anemia appears to be upregulated among infants with iron deficiency.