Scurvy, which was thought to have disappeared, has returned among French children since the Covid-19 pandemic. Associated with precariousness, it embodies a new indicator of socioeconomic and food disparities.
It was thought to have disappeared, but it has nevertheless made significant progress in France in recent years. Scurvy is a disease caused by a serious deficiency of vitamin C (ascorbic acid), a vitamin essential to our body but which it neither produces nor is capable of storing.
It is normally diet that regularly provides the human body with the vitamin C it needs. In the event of a profound deficiency, scurvy can occur within a few months, causing severe joint pain, severe muscle weakness and hemorrhages. Without care and a change in diet, the patient can die from hemorrhage or heart failure.
Scurvy had practically disappeared since the end of the 20th century in high-income countries, particularly in Europe. But according to a recent study*, it is back among children in France. This, the results of which were published in the journal The Lancet Regional Health – Europe on December 6, 2024, focused on the increase in cases of scurvy in France among children since the Covid-19 pandemic.
34.5% increase in scurvy cases
A period of nine years was covered with two distinct sub-periods; the pre-pandemic from 2015 to 2020 and the post-pandemic from 2020 to 2023. The comparison was then carried out based on data collected from the national PMSI system (program for medicalization of information systems).
In total, 888 patients under the age of 18 were hospitalized with scurvy. “The increase in hospitalizations is estimated at 34.5% after the start of the Covid-19 pandemicunderlines Inserm in a press release dated December 18. Furthermore, the increase in cases of severe malnutrition, estimated at 20.3%, reinforces the link between scurvy and a deterioration in the nutritional status of children. According to the researchers, the significant increase in cases of scurvy and severe malnutrition was paralleled by a worsening of precariousness and an increase in inflation (+ 15% at the start of 2023).
If a cause and effect relationship is not demonstrated in the study, it is considered “plausible” by the researchers. “The re-emergence of scurvy can be linked to different causes including environmental and social factors but also linked to eating habits. We must also highlight the unexpected impact of the pandemic and the global socio-economic and political crises that followed it, on the worsening of food insecurity.”
How to protect children from malnutrition?
Three recommendations are made to protect children:
- implementation of targeted food aid programs
- improving access to nutritious and affordable food
- strengthening clinical training for the prevention and early detection of dietary deficiencies.
As a reminder, foods rich in vitamin C are kiwi, lychee, mango, papaya, peach, strawberry, citrus fruits, parsley, kale, pepper, broccoli, collard greens, cabbage from Brussels…
