Haugen J, et al. – The specialists applied different cutoffs for vitamin D concentration, in order to estimate the extent to which vitamin D status predicts illness duration and treatment failure in children with severe pneumonia. Investigations suggested that low vitamin D status (25(OH)D<50 nmol/l) was an independent risk factor for treatment failure and delayed recovery from severe lower respiratory infections in children.

Methods

• In this study, the plasma concentration of 25(OH)D were measured in 568 children hospitalized with World Health Organization–defined severe pneumonia.
• In multiple logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards models, the associations between vitamin D status, using the most frequently used cutoffs for vitamin D insufficiency (25(OH)D<50 and <75 nmol/l), and risk for treatment failure and time until recovery were analyzed, respectively.

Results

• Out of 568 children, 322 (56.7%) had plasma 25(OH)D levels ≥75 nmol/l, 179 (31.5%) had levels of 50–74.9 nmol/l, and 67 (%) had levels <50 nmol/l.
• Findings revealed that plasma 25(OH)D <50 nmol/l was associated with increased risk for treatment failure and longer time until recovery.