SERUM VITAMIN A AND CAROTENE LEVELS IN CHILDREN WITH RHEUMATIC FEVER

Abstract

RHEUMATIC fever has long been recognized as a disease occurring most frequently in children receiving poor environmental care. In the past two decades, the nutritional background of children with rheumatic fever has attracted growing interest.* At the present time, however, it is still not clear whether or how suboptimal nutrition, acting in conjunction with other adverse living conditions, such as poor housing, overcrowding, repeated exposures to infections, and less protection from physical and emotional stresses, increases the susceptibility and modifies the response of the hosts to the disease. Jackson and others⁴found that the recurrence rate of rheumatic fever was lowered in children who had special attention devoted to improvement in their environments, including nutrition. Of the various factors possibly involved, the most significant association was observed between the dietary ratings and the recurrence rate of the disease. They found a significant correlation (inverse) between the adequacy of the