Not a single case of
Bitot's spot was recorded in this study.
Four (0.6%) of the children had vitamin A deficiency (
Bitot's spot) (Table 2).
Bitot's spot and night blindness were found to be 3.5 % and 3.1% in Lalomama and 3.6 % and nil in Gerakeya, respectively.
* Prevalence of
Bitot's spot was 1.83% in children under six years of age and 4.93% in children above six.
Refractory error was found to be present in nine (4.5%) cases, followed by lacrimation and redness in four (2%), squint in two (1%), and
Bitot's spot in two (1%) [Table 7].
For Vitamin A deficiency, conjunctival xerosis,
Bitot's spot, corneal ulceration, xeropthalmic fundus, night blindness, corneal xerosis, corneal scar, and eye infection were assessed.
Other signs of vitamin A deficiency such as
Bitot's spot, corneal xerosis and corneal opacities were not observed in any children.
'Vitamin 'A' effectively prevents mal-nutritional blindness, especially night blindness,
bitot's spots and corneal lesions," he said and discussed the importance for continuation of Vitamin A supplementation for the under-five babies.
[1] In India, the prevalence of VAD is higher than the WHO's limit indicating a public health problem (
Bitot's spots: >0.5%, night blindness in children: >1%) and around 0.3 million children die of VAD every year.
One male child out of 8 children with mild degree malnutrition and 11 male children out of 32 children with moderate degree of malnutrition, while 2 female children out of 17 with mild degree malnutrition (12%) and 15 female children out of 43 with moderate degree of malnutrition (34.8%) had clinical signs and symptoms of vitamin A deficiency (conjunctiva xerosis and
bitot's spots) shown in Figure7.
Vitamin A deficiency signs and symptoms: Higher percentage of mothers in group I showed
Bitot's spots (3.2%) compared to group II mothers (1.4%).
In 1992 the study done by UNICEF, among children six months to six years of age, the prevalence of night blindness was 0.7% and of
Bitot's Spots 0.2%.
