Scurvy, a disease caused by severe vitamin C deficiency, is making a comeback in France. A new study links its resurgence, particularly among young children from low-income families, to rising food insecurity…

Hospital doctors and researchers from France’s public health research body (Inserm) and Université Paris Cité analysed trends among nearly 900 children hospitalised with scurvy in France over a nine-year period, until November 2023.

The study, published in the medical journal The Lancet, found the biggest increase in cases was among children aged four to 10, and largely those from low-income families.

“There would seem to be a link with poverty,” said Ulrich Meinzer, the study’s coordinator and a paediatrician at Robert-Debré Hospital in Paris.

He underlined that 32.9 percent of the hospitalised children came from families receiving universal medical cover – an indicator of very low income.

“Nurses noted that some of the infected children had not eaten for several days,” Meinzer told French news magazine Le Nouvel Obs.

  • fishabel
    52·
    5 days ago

    Put some vitamin c in the processed food ffs

    • john89@lemmy.ca
      21·
      4 days ago

      That’d a band-aid solution to cover up deeper problems.

      Take from those who have too much and give it to those who have too little. Simple, but effective.

      • fishabel
        1·
        4 days ago

        Well, yes. But, immediate and realistic action is more important than the hopes and dreams of an equal society.

    • Canonical_Warlock@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      1·
      5 days ago

      Exactly! Vitamin C is dirt fucking cheap. It’s even in fucking Mtn dew of all things. It is not hard to add vitamin C to various cheap foods and drinks.

      • fishabel
        31·
        5 days ago

        Of all of the medical problems in the world, scurvy is something that should absolutely happen nowhere.