Vitamin D injection helped migrants a bit, but some had poor or even negative responses – Dec 2017

Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and intramuscular vitamin D3 supplementation among Eritrean migrants recently arrived in Switzerland

Swiss Med Wkly. 2017;147:w14568 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4414/smw.2017.14568
Afona Chernet, Nicole-Probst Hensch, Kerstin Kling, Véronique Sydow, Christosph Hatz, Daniel H Paris, Katharina Rentsch, Beatrice Nickel, Andreas Neumayr, Niklaus D Labhardt

   Blue highlight = negative response    Pink highlight = poor response

Note: 2nd measurement was at 12 weeks, Average BMI = 20 (not obese)

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In a cross-sectional screening programme, we assessed serum vitamin D levels in adult Eritrean refugees recently arrived in Switzerland. Median vitamin D level among 107 participants (95 males and 12 females) was 27 nmol/l (interquartile range 23–42 nmol/l), 86% had insufficient vitamin D levels (≤50 nmol/l) and 36% severe deficiency (<25 nmol/l). In 29 participants who received single-dose intramuscular vitamin D substitution (300 000 IU), median vitamin D levels increased from 25 to 35 nmol/l after 3 months (p = 0.005); only 11 (38%) reached sufficient vitamin D levels.

Eritrean migrants should be routinely screened for vitamin D deficiency. Single-dose intramuscular supplementation appeared to be insufficient to achieve optimal levels in the majority of participants.

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