International congress of nutrition

Malnourished children from low income families were hospitalized for a 2-month period in the immune and Nutritional Rehabilitation Centre (CRIN) in Cochabamba (Bolivia). They received a special diet adapted to the form of malnutrition. Nutritional status was determined by daily clinical examination and weekly anthropometrical measurements. Immune status was assessed by weekly ultrasonography of the left lobe of the thymus and monthly determination of T lymphocytes subpopulations. The 2-month longitudinal study showed that normal anthropometric values for discharge (-1 SD of the NCHS weight for height) were resumed after one month of rehabilitation whereas two months were required for a complete immunologic recovery (350 mm2 of thymic area). Malnourished children belong to disadvantaged population groups with high exposure to disease. In such an environment, a discharge based only on anthropometric criteria could explain frequent relapses, because the immune recovery took a longer time than nutritional recovery and the children were still immune-depressed. (Résumé d'auteur