Severe vitamin A (VA) deficiency leads to lower immunity, and ultimately to blindness and mortality.
In Burkina Faso, since the beginning of the vitamin A supplementation campaigns in 1980, very few studies have focused on vitamin A biomarkers in the evaluation of programs targeting the reduction of vitamin A deficiency. In addition, none of these validated the serum retinol measurement against the C13 test, which is considered as the gold standard of vitamin A body status via the indirect assessment of vitamin A hepatic stores.
The objective of this study is to assess the effect of seasonality on vitamin A status of 36- to 59-month-old children using C13 and serum retinol during in rural Burkina Faso.