Scurvy is now a days a rare nutritional disorder in developed and developing countries. We
report 8 cases of scurvy admitted in our hospital from June 1997 to December 1998 to
highlight the existence of the disease in our modern society. All cases were in the age
group of 1 to 4 yers, 3 of them had cerebral palsy, 7 were male and 6 cases were from
illiterate poor Muslim families. All of them were malnourished. Diet was deficient in
Vitamin C in all cases. Four children were partially breastfed and supplemented with
diluted cow's milk/tin milk. Two babies were exclusively breast fed upto 1 year of age but
mother's diet was lacking in fruits and vegetables and their subsequent diet was also
deficient. Behavioral changes like irritability or lethargy were present in all cases(6).
Gum hypertrophy with bleeding or tendency to bleed and painful swelling of limbs (more in
legs) were present in majority of cases but pseudoparalytic feature was evident only in 3
cases.
The diagnosis of scurvy is mainly based upon high suspicion, the
characteristic clinical features, radiological findings and history of poor intake of
Vitamin C. All children res-ponded well to oral ascorbic acid given in a dose of 200 mg
daily for 6 weeks.
Although foods rich in Vitamin C are easily available in India there
are many factors contributing to the persistence of scurvy like poor socio-economic
condition, poor intake of Vitamin C containing fruits and vegetables in some pregnant and
lactating mothers, lack of exclusive breastfeeding, delayed weaning and faulty feeding
practices.
D.K. Paul,
M. Lahiri,
T.B. Garai,
M.K. Chatterjee,
Dr. B.C. Roy Memorial Hospital
for Children,
111, Narkeldanga Main Road,
Calcutta 700 054, India. |
