Vitamin D status in hospitalized black children under 2 years of age.
The apparent decline over the last decade of vitamin D deficiency rickets among black infants in South Africa has suggested a significant improvement in their vitamin D status. Levels of serum 25-hydroxy-vitamin D, calcium, phosphorus and alkaline phosphatase, together with a radiograph of the left wrist, were obtained in 114 hospitalized black infants under the age of 2 years in order to establish the frequency of infants with or at risk of vitamin D deficiency. Mean 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were found to be in the low normal range and showed no correlation with either age or season. Vitamin D stores were depleted in 7% and relatively deficient in 20,7% with suggestive radiological features of rickets in only 2 patients. The high prevalence of malnutrition and infection made a biochemical assessment of rickets impossible. The significance of these suboptimal vitamin D levels is uncertain, but the available literature would suggest that these infants are at increased risk of developing vitamin D deficiency rickets.
D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase / Q000097:blood; D002118:Calcium / Q000097:blood; D002673:Child, Hospitalized; D006801:Humans; D006887:Hydroxycholecalciferols / Q000097:blood*; D007223:Infant; D010758:Phosphorus / Q000097:blood; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology*
D006887:Hydroxycholecalciferols; D010758:Phosphorus; D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase; D002118:Calcium