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Maternal vitamin A supplementation delays time to first episode of parasitaemia and reduces malaria parasite densities among infants in rural communities in Ebonyi State, Nigeria.

The study was a randomized mother -infant dyad placebo controlled field trial that evaluated the effect of maternal vitamin A supplementation on time to first episode of parasitaemia and on malaria parasite densities among infants in three rural communities in Ebonyi State, Nigeria. One hundred and fifty-two (152) pregnant women with pregnancies that had mature to at least six (6) months were equally randomized into supplemented and placebo groups. Ten thousand international unit (10,000 IU) of vitamin A supplement was administered three (3) times per week to women of the supplemented group while placebo was given to the control group at equal frequencies. The regimen was continued until the participants delivered their babies. On delivery of their babies, 200,000 1U of vitamin A supplement was administered to the supplemented group while the other group also received placebo. The regimen was maintained every three (3) month until the infants were 12 months old. Follow-up was carried out monthly and 3 ml of venous blood was collected quarterly from the infants and used for determination of parasitaemia. The procedure was carried out following standard parasitological techniques. Data collected were analysed using analysis of variance (ANOVA), Fisher's least significant difference (FLSD), and Ttest. Statistical significance was established at p<0.05. Infants of mothers from the placebo group were infected by malaria parasites at earlier months of their lives while their counterparts had parasitaemia much later. Malaria parasite densities significantly differed (p<0.05) among infants of the two groups, with infants of vitamin A supplemented women having lower parasite densities in comparison with their counterparts. Pre-partum and post- partum supplementation of vitamin A within the recommended dosages are required for improvement of nutritional status and well-being of both mothers and infants.