| Abstract [eng] |
Vitamin B12 is a water-soluble vitamin. Humans get the vitamin from animal products. Vitamin B12 deficiency is a rare and treatable cause of delayed development in infants. In developed countries, deficiency occurs in babies who are breastfed, whose mothers are anaemic or are vegetarian or vegan. Vitamin is absorbed through the mucous membranes. Absorption may be impaired due to various mucosal disorders, autoimmune conditions or drugs that inhibit gastric acidity. Most cases of vitamin B12 deficiency in children are due to inadequate nutrition. Vegetarians and vegans are deficient in this vitamin because of low intake and plant-based products are deficient in this vitamin. Infants show symptoms of anaemia much earlier than mothers. Mild fatigue, weakness, irritability, skin pallor and neurological signs are observed. Anaemia can be diagnosed by blood examination, microscopy, serum enzymes and biochemical blood tests. There is no gold standard for treatment, oral, spray and parenteral products are effective in normalising vitamin B12 levels. Paediatricians are now seeing an increasing number of families opting for a vegetarian or vegan diet. As such diets become more popular, and as many mothers are exclusively breastfeeding their babies for the first 6 months of life, the incidence of vitamin B12 deficiency can be expected to increase. Two cases of megaloblastic anaemia in children are presented in this paper, the first case describes uncomplicated severe megaloblastic anaemia and the second case presents a rare complication of epilepsy in the background of vitamin B12 deficiency. |
