Vitamin D Status in Young Children with Viral Croup

Background: Vitamin D is a regulator of calcium and phosphate homeostasis and has numerous extra-skeletal effects. Therefore, vitamin D represents a potentially useful intervention for combating viral infection.

The aim: To evaluate the impact of vitamin D status of young children on the viral croup occurrence.

Materials and methods: Hospital-based survey included 80 children aged 1-36 months with viral croup. The evaluation of vitamin D status was conducted by measuring serum 25(OH) D levels.

Results: Median of serum 25(OH) D levels in young children with viral croup was 31.8 ng/ml (Q₁=18,4; Q₂=47,4). The rate of recurrent infections was 43.8±5.5 % (35/80). The levels of 25(OH) D in patients with frequent respiratory viral infections was significantly lower (25.4 ng/ml; Q₁=18.1; Q₃=40.1) than lose in children with first episode of viral infection (38.3 ng/ml; Q₁=19.6; Q₃=47.7), p=0.09. Patients with moderate viral croup had significantly lower levels of 25 (OH) D (25.5 ng/ml; Q₁=15.2; Q₃=38.6) than children with mild clinical performance of disease (43.2 ng/ml; Q₁=30.8; Q₃=61.5), p=0.0001. The levels of 25(OH) D

Conclusion: Low levels of vitamin D in young children are associated with higher odds of severe performance and recurrent episodes of viral croup.