Respiratory Tract Infection visits 2.5 less likely with vitamin D: Pregnancy 2000 IU, Infant 800 IU – RCT

Reduced primary care respiratory infection visits following pregnancy and infancy vitamin D supplementation: a randomised-controlled trial

Acta Paediatrica DOI: 10.1111/apa.12819

Cameron C. Grant1,*, Suhina Kaur2, Ellen Waymouth1, Edwin A. Mitchell1, Robert Scragg3, Alec Ekeroma4, Alistair Stewart3, Julian Crane5, Adrian Trenholme6 andCarlos A. Camargo Jr.7

Aim

To determine whether vitamin D supplementation reduces primary care visits for acute respiratory infection (ARI).

Methods

A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was conducted in New Zealand and powered to determine the vitamin D dose needed to achieve normal vitamin D status during infancy. Healthy pregnant women, from 27 weeks gestation to birth, and their infants, from birth to age 6 months, were assigned to placebo or one of two dosages of daily oral vitamin D3. Woman/infant pairs were randomised to: placebo/placebo, 1000IU/400IU, or 2000IU/800IU.For this ad hoc analysis, the primary care records of enrolled children were audited to age 18 months.

Results

Two-hundred-and-sixty pregnant women were randomised to placebo (n=87), lower-dose (n=87) or higher-dose (n=86) vitamin D3. In comparison with the placebo group (99%) , the proportion of children making any ARI visits was smaller in the higher-dose (87% , P=0.004), but not the lower-dose vitamin D3 group (95%, P=0.17). The median number of ARI visits/child was less in the higher-dose vitamin D3 group from age 6-18 months (placebo 4, lower-dose 3, higher-dose 2.5 ; P=0.048 for higher-dose vitamin D3 vs. placebo).

Conclusion

Vitamin D3 supplementation during pregnancy and infancy reduces primary care visits for ARI during early childhood.

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See also VitaminDWiki

• Respiratory Tract Infection risk reduced 2X by Vitamin D loading doses – meta-analysis Jan 2021

• Respiratory infections reduced by 63 percent with 4000 IU vitamin D daily - RCT Dec 2012

• Respiratory infections (RTI) cut in half by 20,000 IU weekly vitamin D if initially deficient – RCT March 2015

• Respiratory tract infection eliminated in 36 percent of people by 4000 IU of Vitamin D – RCT Sept 2015

• Acute respiratory tract infections prevented by vitamin D (even when ignoring the dose size – Meta-analysis Feb 2017

• Vitamin D reduces respiratory tract infections by 40 percent– meta-analysis Dec 2012

• Reduced viral respiratory tract infections by half by having more than 38 ng of vitamin D – June 2010

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