ArticlePublic health nutrition2021
Pellagra in South Africa from 1897 to 2019: a scoping review.
Article in Public health nutrition, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 15 citations in OpenAlex.
- Recognizing pellagra with Casal's necklace: a fatal case of anorexia nervosa.Forensic science, medicine, and pathology · 2026Article
- Article
- Enzymatic approaches to nicotinic acid synthesis: recent advances and future prospects.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2025Review
- Case report: Pellagra presentation with dermatitis and dysphagia.Frontiers in medicine · 2024Article
- Prevention and Control Strategies for Non-Communicable Disease: Goldberger, Pellagra and Rose Revisited.Epidemiologia (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Novel Quinolone Derivatives: Synthesis and Antioxidant Activity.Russian journal of general chemistry · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivePellagra is a nutritional deficiency disease associated with niacin (vitamin B3) deficiency. The history of pellagra is well documented for Europe and the USA, but less is known about the prevalence in sub-Saharan African countries. This study documents the history of pellagra in South Africa, as diagnosed based on dermatological symptoms.
designScoping review of information from scientific databases, library archives, other archives and record services and from Statistics South Africa.
settingSouth Africa, 1897-2019.
participantsSouth African.
resultsPellagra was first officially recorded in South Africa in 1906, but there are earlier indications of the disease. The prevalence of pellagra peaked after it was all but eradicated in the USA and Europe. Pellagra was never as prevalent in South Africa as in Europe, the USA and Egypt, where special hospitals for pellagrins were established. However, studies on urinary excretion of metabolites conducted in 1960s and 1970s suggested a high prevalence of subclinical (sub-pellagra) niacin deficiency, especially in previously disadvantaged Black populations. As in Europe and the USA, pellagra was associated with poverty and an overdependence on maize as staple food. Malnutrition was the main cause of the disease, but alcohol abuse might have been a contributing factor. In South Africa, reports of pellagra had declined by the late 1980s/early 1990s and hardly any cases were reported by the year 2000.
conclusionsAlthough pellagra, diagnosed based on dermatological symptoms, appears to be largely eradicated in South Africa, it does not rule out the potential for subclinical niacin deficiency.
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