Publication:

Serum vitamin D concentration in acute lower respiratory tract infection in infants: a case control study from Northern India

Background Vitamin D insufficiency is believed to be the most common nutritional deficiency and one of the most undiagnosed medical conditions in this region. People across the world are becoming increasingly aware of the role played by vitamin D in health and disease, especially its role in immunity and its anti-infective role. The present study was conducted to study the relationship between serum vitamin D levels and severity of respiratory tract infections. To study the relation between serum vitamin D levels and severity of acute respiratory tract infections.

Methods 1-year prospective study from September 2014 to August 2015. Children from 1 month to 1 year of age participated in the study. Serum Vitamin D levels were measured in case group suffering from severe acute lower respiratory tract infections (ALRTI) and in a control group. The primary outcome variable was difference in serum vitamin D levels between case group and control group.

Results The median (IQR) age of cases and controls was 5.0 (4.75) months and 4.0 (4.0) months, respectively. There were no significant differences in baseline demographic and anthropometric parameters between the 2 groups.  The median vitamin D level in a case group was significantly lower compared with matched controls (p <0.05).

Conclusions Vitamin D deficiency is an important independent risk factor for childhood pneumonia. We found a severe vitamin D deficiency of our infants suffering from severe acute lower respiratory tract infections. The deficiency was more prevalent in exclusive breast feed infants.