title: Vitamin D status and acute lower respiratory infection in early childhood in Sylhet, Bangladesh.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Acute lower respiratory tract infection (ALRI) is the most important global cause of childhood death. Micronutrient deficiencies may increase the risk of ALRI. A case-control study was conducted to assess the association between vitamin D status and ALRI in rural Bangladesh.
  
  
  METHODS
  Children aged 1-18 months hospitalized with ALRI (cases) were individually matched to controls on age, sex, and village (N = 25 pairs). The mean serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration [25(OH)D] in cases and controls was compared using paired t-test. The unadjusted and adjusted odds of ALRI were assessed by multivariate conditional logistic regression.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean [25(OH)D] was significantly lower among ALRI cases than controls (29.1 nmol/L vs. 39.1 nmol/L; p = 0.015). The unadjusted odds of ALRI was halved for each 10 nmol/L increase in [25(OH)D] (OR 0.53, 95% CI 0.30-0.96). Adjustment for confounders increased the magnitude of the association.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Vitamin D status was associated with early childhood ALRI in a matched case-control study in rural Bangladesh. Randomized trials may establish whether interventions to improve vitamin D status can reduce the burden of ALRI in early childhood.
authors.affiliation: Department of International Health, The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
authors.forename: D E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Roth
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.forename: R E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Black
authors.forename: A H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Baqui
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D001459:Bangladesh / Q000453:epidemiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D016015:Logistic Models; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000097:blood*; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000150:complications*
chemical_list: D014807:Vitamin D