Single dose vitamin A treatment in acute shigellosis in Bangladeshi children: randomised double blind controlled trial

<h3>Abstract</h3> <b>Objective:</b> To evaluate the efficacy of a single large oral dose of vitamin A in treating acute shigellosis in children in Bangladesh. <b>Design:</b> Randomised double blind controlled clinical trial. <b>Setting:</b> Dhaka Hospital, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh. <b>Subjects:</b> 83 children aged 1–7 years with bacteriologically proved shigellosis but no clinical signs of vitamin A deficiency; 42 were randomised to treatment with vitamin A and 41 formed a control group. <b>Intervention:</b> Children were given a single oral dose of 200 000 IU of vitamin A plus 25 IU vitamin E or a control preparation of 25 IU vitamin E. <b>Main outcome measures:</b> Clinical cure on study day 5 and bacteriological cure. <b>Results:</b> Baseline characteristics of the subjects in…