[Effect of preparations combining trace-elements and vitamins on the frequency of illness among children attending...

Between 17 January and 16 April 2000, 37 children attending a kindergarten were treated with MultiTabs masticatory tablets, product containing vitamins and trace elements. 36 children attending the same kindergarten served as controls. Only 1 of the children participating in this multivitamin treatment required antibiotic treatment during this period, in contrast with 12 of the control group (3 of them on more than 1 occasion). It was interesting that, when they came into contact with subjects with chickenpox, only 11 of the 37 vitamin-treated children contracted this disease (the contagiosity index of which otherwise exceeds 90%). The increase in height of the treated children was significantly greater than that for the controls. Similarly between 17 January and 16 April 2000, 20 children younger than 2 years (average age 16.6 +/- 5.5 months) participated in treatment with ACD drops (containing vitamins A, C and D). The controls here were 20 infants of similar age (average 21.3 +/- 4.2 months) who participated in the traditional vitamin D treatment. None of the members of either group took part in child-community activities, but they all had siblings who attended kindergarten. Of the children receiving the ACD drops, 8 fell ill during the period in question, as compared with 12 of the controls. The number of days of illness per child was on average 3.6 in the treated group, and 6.5 in the control group. Three of the children receiving the ACD drops required antibiotic treatment, whereas this was necessary in 6 of the control children. The increases in both height and weight were significantly higher for those treated with the ACD drops than for the controls. No signs of rickets were observed in either group. The authors discuss the roles of the vitamins (A, D, E, B1, B2, B3, B6, B12, C, folic acid and nicotinic acid) and trace elements (Fe, Zn, Cu, Mn, I, Se and Cr) present in the multivitamin masticatory tablets in the maintence of human vital processes, and primarily in antioxidant processes and in the immune defence.