TY - JOUR
T1 - Xerophthalmia and anterior-segment blindness among preschool-age children in El Salvador
AU - Sommer, Alfred
AU - Quesada, Jose
AU - Doty, Margaret
AU - Faich, Gerald
PY - 1975/12
Y1 - 1975/12
N2 - A countrywide prevalence survey of 9,508 children was conducted in El Salvador to determine the prevalence of anterior-segment abnormalities and magnitude of clinical vitamin A deficiency. Thirty-six children had corneal opacities, 56% of them secondary to trauma. Such traumatic corneal opacities were 19 times more frequent among urban than rural children, 57.6 vs. 3.1 per 1,000. Keratomalacia accounted for only 8% of all corneal opacities, and for one (and possibly two) of the five cases of bilateral anterior-segment blindness encountered. The prevalence of Bitot spots and vitamin-A-related corneal opacities was 5.3 and 3.2 per 10,000, respectively. There are an estimated 43 new surviving cases of vitamin-A-related corneal opacities in the country each year, one third of which result in bilateral blindness. Fifteen percent of all children examined had grossly purulent conjunctivitis.
AB - A countrywide prevalence survey of 9,508 children was conducted in El Salvador to determine the prevalence of anterior-segment abnormalities and magnitude of clinical vitamin A deficiency. Thirty-six children had corneal opacities, 56% of them secondary to trauma. Such traumatic corneal opacities were 19 times more frequent among urban than rural children, 57.6 vs. 3.1 per 1,000. Keratomalacia accounted for only 8% of all corneal opacities, and for one (and possibly two) of the five cases of bilateral anterior-segment blindness encountered. The prevalence of Bitot spots and vitamin-A-related corneal opacities was 5.3 and 3.2 per 10,000, respectively. There are an estimated 43 new surviving cases of vitamin-A-related corneal opacities in the country each year, one third of which result in bilateral blindness. Fifteen percent of all children examined had grossly purulent conjunctivitis.
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U2 - 10.1016/0002-9394(75)90337-2
DO - 10.1016/0002-9394(75)90337-2
M3 - Article
C2 - 1200100
AN - SCOPUS:0016786748
VL - 80
SP - 1066
EP - 1072
JO - American Journal of Ophthalmology
JF - American Journal of Ophthalmology
SN - 0002-9394
IS - 6
ER -