[Prevention in pediatrics in the Nord-Cotentin. Prospective study of 255 cases].

Over a 4 month period, the medical records of 255 children with an age range of 6 months to 3 years and who had been admitted to the Cherbourg Hospital Department of Pediatrics were prospectively studied. Ninety-nine % had received BCG vaccination but only 71% had a positive skin test. Ninety-two % were vaccinated against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough and poliomyelitis and 61% against measles. Seventy-eight % of parents said that they had correctly administered vitamin D, at least up to 18 months of age. Seventy % of children were fed cow's milk during the second half of the first year and at least 35% had at least one hematological sign of iron deficiency. The promotion of routine immunizations as well as vaccination against rubella-mumps-measles seems to be desirable goals. There is a need for the widespread use of adapted milk formulas up to 1 year of age and for systematic iron supplementation of pregnant women and of infants presenting with evidence of iron deficiency or on cow's milk.