TITLE:
Prevalence of Iron Deficiency and Iron Deficiency Anemia in Infants and Children and Treatment with Microencapsulated Iron II Fumarate and Supplied Ascorbic Acid as “Sprinkles”
AUTHORS:
Abdullah Al-Mamari, Mohammad A. Al-Hegami, Sadeq Al-Hag, Mahmoud Al-Buryhi, Safa Al-Amawi, Leena Ahmed, Lila Al-Awadi, Sarah Al-Jamal, Wafa Mohammad, Yasmin Mohammad
KEYWORDS:
Infants, Children, Anemia, Microencapsulated Iron, Ascorbic Acid
JOURNAL NAME:
Pharmacology & Pharmacy,
Vol.5 No.7,
June
24,
2014
ABSTRACT: Background: Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) in children and infants is a common
nutritional problem all over the world. Infants and young children have a high
risk for developing iron deficiency (ID) because they have high demand for iron
during the period of rapid growth. This is aggravated by the insufficiency of
iron in their diet. Iron supplementation programs using pediatric tablets or
drops have not been successful in the control of anemia amongst infants and
children in some countries. “Sprinkles” is an innovative multi-micronutrient
home fortification strategy to control iron deficiency and anemia to be more
useful. Objective: The objective was to estimate the prevalence
ID and IDA in infants and children in Ibb City, Yemen Republic; evaluate the
use of a new form of iron and determine the hematologic response to different
doses and forms of iron in Sprinkles and iron drops. Design: Using
a prospective, randomized, controlled design, we studied 337 randomly children
aged 24 - 48 months and infants aged 6 - 24 months in Ibb City (hemoglobin: 70
- 99 g/L). One group received a daily sachet of microencapsulated ferrous fumarate
(80 mg elemental Fe) in powder form plus ascorbic acid to be sprinkled onto any
complementary food eaten (sprinkles group); a control group received ferrous
sulfate drops 3 times/d for 2 months (total dose: 40 mg elemental Fe).
Hemoglobin and serum ferritin concentrations were measured at baseline and at
the end of treatment. Results: Successful treatment of anemia
(hemoglobin > 100 g/L) occurred in 58% of the sprinkles group and in 56% of
the drops group, with minimal side effects in both groups. Geometric mean ferritin
concentrations increased significantly in each group from baseline to the end
of treatment (P Conclusion: Use of ferrous sulfate drops or
a single daily dose of microencapsulated ferrous fumarate sprinkles plus
ascorbicacid resulted in a similar rate of successful treatment of anemia without
side effects. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of the use of
microencapsulated iron sprinkles to treat anemia in this area. Improved ease of
use may favor the use of sprinkles to deliver iron.