A study of infantile beriberi in Rangoon

ABSTRACT

Two hundred beriberi patients admitted into the Rangoon Children Hospital were studied clinically. Thiamine excretion in the urine of 197 mothers of beriberi cases and 45 mothers of non-beriberi cases was measured. Thiamine content of the milk of 45 mothers of infantile beriberi cases and 45 mothers of non-beriberi cases was also measured. Incidence of infantile beriberi was found to be highest between the first and fourth month of life. Infantile beriberi occurs commonly and typically in infants receiving mother's milk. There is a significant relationship between the level of thiamine in the mother's milk and occurrence of beriberi. Mothers of beriberi infants do not necessarily have beriberi.