Far fewer respiratory track infections in infants and children getting 400 IU of Vitamin D – many studies
Vitamin D supplementation and lower respiratory tract infection in infants: a nested case-control study - May 2022
Infection. 2022 May 24. doi: 10.1007/s15010-022-01845-4
Miao Hong 1, Ting Xiong 1, Junmei Huang 1 2, Yuanjue Wu 1, Lixia Lin 1, Zhen Zhang 1, Li Huang 1, Qin Gao 1, Huanzhuo Wang 1, Xuefeng Yang 1, Nianhong Yang 1, Liping Hao 3
Purpose: To assess the association between vitamin D (VD) supplementation and the risk of lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) among infants.
Methods: This is a nested case-control study from an ongoing prospective birth cohort in Wuhan from 2013. Cases were subjects free of neonatal pneumonia but later developed LRTI during infancy, who were matched with five randomly selected controls by infant sex, birth year, and birth season. We included 190 cases and 950 controls in the final analysis. The primary outcome was the first LRTI incident and the exposure was VD supplementation from birth to the index endpoint. The association between VD supplementation and LRTI risk was assessed using the Cox proportional-hazards regression model.
Results: Infants taking supplements had a 59% relative reduction in the hazard ratio of LRTI (HR = 0.41; 95% CI 0.26, 0.64) compared to those not supplemented. There was a linear relationship between LRTI risk and VD supplementation within range of 0-603 IU/day: for each 100 IU per day increment in VD supplementation, infants experienced a 21% lower risk of developing LRTI (adjusted HR: 0.79; 95% CI 0.71, 0.89). The linear relationship was stably observed in the sensitivity analyses as well.
Conclusions: VD supplementation was associated with the reduced risk of LRTI throughout infancy, and the optimal supplementation dose for infants may be beyond the current recommendation.
📄 Download the PDF from Vitamin D Life
Note: This case-controlled study uses 9 year old data from China
Note: Lower RTI is often due to the influenza virus
Note: A 1 year old child should get 1,000 IU daily average
- 100 IU per kg of infant July 2011, Poland etc.
- Slighly better and easier to remember for 1 year old child would be
- 5,000 IU weekly, 10,000 IU bi-weekly, of 50,000 IU monthly
RTI with fever: 43% fewer days in 6-8 year-olds by 400 IU of Vitamin D - RCT May 2025
Effects of vitamin D supplementation on acute respiratory tract infections in 6–8-year-old children: a randomized clinical trial
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-025-03674-1 PDF behind paywall
The abstract does not indicate if vitamin D supplementation was started before the ARTI season
400 IU takes many months to start to provide a benefit.
Would have had much better results if had started the 400 IU at least 4 months earlier.
Vitamin D Life pages with LOWER RESPIRATORY in title (9 as of May 2022)
This list is automatcially updated
{LIST()}
Vitamin D Life pages with RTI in title (9 as of May 2022)
This list is automatcially updated
{LIST()}
Vitamin D Life Infant-Child pages with PNEUMONIA in title (10 as of Oct 2024)
This list is automatcially updated
{LIST()}
Respiratory Virus Infections: Understanding COVID-19 - May 2020
https://europepmc.org/article/med/32497522
