{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,4]],"date-time":"2026-07-04T15:30:44Z","timestamp":1783179044190,"version":"3.54.6"},"reference-count":42,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2019,2,21]],"date-time":"2019-02-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1550707200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001732","name":"Danmarks Grundforskningsfond","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["DNRF108"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["DNRF108"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001732","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Nutrients"],"abstract":"<jats:p>A total of 12 trials have tested the effect of neonatal vitamin A supplementation (NVAS) on mortality. Overall, NVAS had no effect on mortality, but results were heterogeneous. Two competing hypotheses have been put forward to explain the divergent effects: A) NVAS works by preventing vitamin A deficiency (VAD) and not all countries have VAD; B) NVAS interacts negatively with subsequent diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP) vaccine, increasing mortality in females; in countries with low DTP coverage NVAS may have a beneficial effect. Only hypothesis A was tested in a recent meta-analysis; there is no strong empirical support for hypothesis A and it would not explain observed negative effects in some settings. Hypothesis B accounts for most observations. However, so far it has only been tested properly in a few trials. If hypothesis B is correct, it has major consequences for the understanding of the effects of vitamin A, and for the VAS policy in older children. As a WHO priority, the DTP coverage is bound to increase, and therefore hypothesis B urgently needs to be tested.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/nu11020449","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2019,2,22]],"date-time":"2019-02-22T03:49:44Z","timestamp":1550807384000},"page":"449","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["Lessons Learned from the Testing of Neonatal Vitamin A Supplementation"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6102-3810","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Christine Stabell","family":"Benn","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Center for Vitamins and Vaccines, Bandim Health Project, Statens Serum Institut, 2300 Copenhagen, Denmark"},{"name":"OPEN, Institute for Clinical Research, University of Southern Denmark\/Odense University Hospital, 5000 Odense, Denmark"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Peter","family":"Aaby","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Center for Vitamins and Vaccines, Bandim Health Project, Statens Serum Institut, 2300 Copenhagen, Denmark"},{"name":"Bandim Health Project, Bissau, 1004 Bissau Codex, Guinea-Bissau"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8521-0992","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ane B\u00e6rent","family":"Fisker","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Center for Vitamins and Vaccines, Bandim Health Project, Statens Serum Institut, 2300 Copenhagen, Denmark"},{"name":"OPEN, Institute for Clinical Research, University of Southern Denmark\/Odense University Hospital, 5000 Odense, Denmark"},{"name":"Bandim Health Project, Bissau, 1004 Bissau Codex, Guinea-Bissau"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2019,2,21]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Beaton, G.H., Martorell, R., McCabe, G., L\u2019abbe, K.A., Edmonston, B., and Ross, A.C. 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