OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of urolithiasis in young children fed infant formula (IF) contaminated with melamine, and the association between IF consumption and urolithiasis.
DESIGN: A total of 2 733 children < or = 3 years of age on September 1, 2008 in two townships of Gansu Province, China were studied. Cases of urolithiasis were diagnosed by ultrasonography. Milk product consumption was determined by their caregivers. Remaining IF samples were tested for melamine and cyanuric acid.
RESULTS: Of 2 733 eligible children in the two townships, 2 186 (80%) were enrolled in our study. Overall, 16.6% (362) of 2 186 children had urolithiasis. The prevalence was 24.6% in children exclusively fed Sanlu brand IF, 9.7% in those fed other IF, and 8.5% in those fed exclusively on other milk products. For children exclusively breast-fed, no urolithiasis was found (P < 0.05). The prevalence of urolithiasis was 11.4% in children fed 400 g of Sanlu IF, rising to 37.5% in children fed over 25 600 g. Of 48 Sanlu IF samples, 91.7% contained melamine (median = 1 800 ppm; range = 45-4 700) and 66.7% contained cyanuric acid (median = 1.2 ppm; range = 0.4-6.3). Melamine was also detected in 22.2% of 36 other brand IF (median = 27.5 ppm, range = 4-50).
CONCLUSIONS: Urolithiasis was associated with melamine-contaminated IF. Although one product caused most morbidity, other milk products may have also contributed to the outbreak.
Written by:
Shi GQ, Wang ZJ, Feng ZJ, Gao YJ, Di Liu J, Shen T, Li M, Yang J, Xu HB, Jiang XH, Wang ZN, Cai M, Wang YM, Zhu YF, Liu HH, Wang R, Xiong WY, Wang ZT, Yang WZ, Hou PS, Zeng G, Wang Y. Are you the author?
Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100050, China.
Reference: Biomed Environ Sci. 2012 Apr;25(2):149-55.
doi: 10.3967/0895-3988.2012.02.004
PubMed Abstract
PMID: 22998820
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