Vitamin K at birth

BMJ 1996;313:179-180 (27 July)

Editorials

Vitamin K at birth

Haemorrhagic disease of the newborn can be eradicated withoutrisk of leukaemia or cancer

That all newborn infants are deficient in vitamin K is apparentfrom their low plasma concentrations of vitamin K and a deficiencyof the vitamin K dependent coagulation factors II, VII, IX,and X. This deficiency results in (early) haemorrhagic diseaseof the newborn in 0.4%-1.7% of babies in the first week of life.¹Late haemorrhagic disease occurs almost exclusively in breastfed infants, from 2 to 12 weeks of age, who did not receiveintramuscular vitamin K at birth. The incidence has been reportedto vary from 4.4 to 10.5 per 100 000 births.²

Vitamin K given intramuscularly at a dose of 1.0 mg correctsdeficiency, prevents haemorrhagic disease of the newborn, andwas standard practice until 1990. But in that year Golding etal reported an increased incidence of leukaemia and cancer inchildren . . . [Full text of this article]

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Relevant Article

Giving vitamin K at birth: Nick Lessof
BMJ 1996 313: 1147. [Extract] [Full Text]

This article has been cited by other articles:

von Kries, R. (1998). Neonatal vitamin K prophylaxis: the Gordian knot still awaits untying. BMJ 316: 161-162 [Full text]
McKinney, P. A, Juszczak, E., Findlay, E., Smith, K. (1998). Case-control study of childhood leukaemia and cancer in Scotland: findings for neonatal intramuscular vitamin K. BMJ 316: 173-177 [Abstract] [Full text]
Parker, L, Cole, M, Craft, A W, Hey, E N (1998). Neonatal vitamin K administration and childhood cancer in the north of England: retrospective case-control study. BMJ 316: 189-193 [Abstract] [Full text]
Lessof, N. (1996). Giving vitamin K at birth. BMJ 313: 1147a-1147 [Full text]