Comparison of Serum levels of Vitamin A, Vitamin D and Zinc in Acute Lower Respiratory Tract Infections in Children

Anil Sharma; Shalini Dash

Volume : IX, Issue : I, January - 2020

Comparison of Serum levels of Vitamin A, Vitamin D and Zinc in Acute Lower Respiratory Tract Infections in Children

Anil Sharma, Shalini Dash

Abstract :

Aim: Acute lower respiratory infections (ALRIs) are global problem, and there are large differences in mortality rates between developed and developing countries. Deficiency of micronutrients may increase the risk of ALRI. A case–control study was conducted to assess the associations between vitamin A, vitamin D, zinc and ALRI in eastern part of Indian children. Methods: Children aged 1 – 60 months hospitalizes with ALRI (cases, N = 51) were matched to controls on age, sex and socio–economic status (N = 31). The mean Serum levels of Vitamin A, Vitamin D (25–hydroxy vitamin D) and Zinc in cases and controls was compared using student‘s paired t–test and compared the severity of pneumonia with these levels. Results: Mean (SD) level of serum vitamin A, vitamin D and zinc in the cases were 17.08 (�10.53) �g/dl; 13.91 (�2.99) ng/ml and 61.51 (�13.84) �g/dl, respectively. The serum vitamin A, vitamin D and zinc levels were significantly lower in cases of ALRI as compared to controls (p<0.001). In our study serum vitamin D level was significantly associated with severity of ALRIs (p=0.042), and mean level of serum vitamin A was significantly low in case of severe pneumonia as compared to pneumonia (p=0.011). Conclusion: Vitamin A, vitamin D and zinc status was associated with childhood ALRI in matched case–control study in eastern part of India. Randomized trials may establish whether interventions to improve theses micronutrients status can reduce the burden of ALRI in children.