High Vitamin D dosage may not cut curb common cold in toddlers

Washington D.C. [USA], July 19 (ANI): Parents please-take-note! A study has revealed that giving high doses of Vitamin D than the recommended amount may not protect your toddler from catching cold in winters.

Among children 1 to 5 years of age, daily high-dose administration of Vitamin D did not reduce overall wintertime upper respiratory tract infections.

Viral upper respiratory tract infections are the most common infectious illnesses of childhood.

Both observational and clinical trial data have suggested a link between low levels of serum 25-hydroxy Vitamin D and increased rates of respiratory tract infections.

Whether winter supplementation of Vitamin D reduces the risk among children is unknown.

Jonathon L. Maguire from Researchers from the University of Toronto randomly assigned children aged one through five years to receive 2,000 IU/d of vitamin D oral supplementation (high-dose group; n=349) or 400 IU/d (standard-dose group; n=354) for a minimum of four months between September and May.

The average number of laboratory-confirmed (based on parent-collected nasal swabs) upper respiratory tract infections per child were 1.05 for the high-dose group and 1.03 for the standard-dose group.

"These findings do not support the routine use of high-dose vitamin D supplementation in children for the prevention of viral upper respiratory tract infections," the authors stated.

A limitation of the study was that children may have had upper respiratory tract infections without swabs being submitted.

The study appears in journal JAMA. (ANI)

This story has not been edited. It has been published as provided by ANI