[Vitamin A deficiency in a rural population of Mauritania and absence of a correlation with urinary schistosomiasis].

This work is part of a wider study on urinary schistosomiasis in a West African rural population and was devoted to the assessment of vitamin A deficiency and the analysis of relations between serum retinol levels and Schistosoma haematobium infection. The study took place in two villages located in a southeastern region of Mauritania (Hodh-El-Gharbi), a semi-arid zone struck by the Sahel drought. During the dry season 1985, 206 children between 1 and 15 years of age were randomly selected (single-stage cluster sampling), 81 from the first village, and 125 from the second. The following information was recorded: sex, age (or age group), symptoms of vitamin A deficiency, weight for height (NCHS reference), S. haematobium eggs count, vitamin A level and anti-schistosomiasis antibodies. In Kerkerat 4 children had eye signs of vitamin A deficiency and serum retinol concentration were found less than 100 micrograms/l in 8 subjects (10 +/- 3%) while 41 children had retinol serum concentration between 100 and 200 micrograms/l (50.6 +/- 5%). There was no difference between the age groups. In Limbehra most of children had serum retinol concentration greater than 200 micrograms/ml and no level less than 100 micrograms/l was found. In this village, children aged 10-15 years had a better retinol status than children under 10 years of age (chi 2 = 6.14, p less than 0.02). In both villages S. haematobium infection was not associated with a low serum retinol level. This study confirms that retinol deficiency is a public health problem in rural Mauritanian population, but keeping with other studies, there is no correlation with urinary schistosomiasis.