BHUBANESWAR: Amid global concern over the unnecessary use of vitamin D that may lead to risks of hypercalcemia (above normal calcium level in blood), a study by a group of researchers from two premier medical institutions in the country suggests vitamin D taken together with antibiotics does not help children recover from pneumonia. Pneumonia is inflammation (swelling) of the lungs caused by an infection. Treatment for pneumonia includes antibiotics, providing oxygen through a mask and other supportive therapies.
Childhood pneumonia is the single largest infectious cause of death in children worldwide as at least one child dies every 45 seconds from the disease every day although almost all such deaths are preventable.
The study by two faculty members from AIIMS, Bhubaneswar and one from Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh revealed vitamin D has little or no effect on the time it takes children to get better from pneumonia.
They critically analysed the treatment interventions of 1,601 children from low and middle-income countries and looked at vitamin D compared with a placebo (a dummy treatment) in children aged between one month and five years who had pneumonia. Additional professor of Paediatrics at AIIMS Dr Rashmi Ranjan Das said though vitamin D boosts immune defences and reduces excessive inflammation, its effects may not help children recover from an episode of pneumonia.
“The study implies vitamin D is used unnecessarily most of the time in many disease conditions, even if there are no clear-cut benefits. Indiscriminate use of vitamin D may cause damage to our body with some dire consequences,” Dr Das warned. The study published in the Cochrane Database of systematic reviews won the prestigious Kenneth Warren prize at the International Cochrane Colloquium in London.