title: Relationship between vitamin D levels and outcome of pneumonia in children.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Pneumonia, a common childhood infection in Nigerian children with a number of debilitating complications such as empyema thoracis, has been linked to vitamin D deficiency due to its ability to modulate the T lymphocyte of the immune system .
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine the relationship between vitamin D and outcome of pneumonia in children.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a case-control study involving 24 children, admitted for pneumonia as subjects and 10 children without pneumonia as controls. Pre-formatted questionnaire was utilized to obtain background information, anthropometric measurements were made to determine nutritional status and estimation of 25- hydroxy cholecalciferol (25OHD) done for all those studied.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean (SD) serum 25OHD concentration was 104 (59) nmol/L and 130 (107) nmol/L for subjects and controls respectively. Amongst the subjects 15 (54%) had serum 25OHD less than 70 nmol/L and 11 (46%) serum 25OHD greater than 70 nmol/L. Hypocalcaemia was present in 15 (54%) of the subjects. Further analysis of hypocalcaemia with regards to the concentration of serum 25OHD showed that 2 (13%) had levels below 40 nmol/L, 10 (67%) had levels below 70 nmol/L and 3 (20%) above 70 nmol/L. Hypocalcaemia was more frequent among subjects with 25OHD below 70nmol/L compared with those above 70nmol/L, (p =0.01). Empyema thoracis and death occurred amongst the two subjects with 25OHD between 27.5 and 40 nmol/L. Anaemia was more frequent among subjects with 25OHD below 70 nmol/L compared with those above 70 nmol/L (p = 0.03).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study showed that Vitamin D insufficiency, and not solely its deficiency, may have an important role to play in the immune and haemopoetic system. It may therefore affect the response of a child to infections especially pneumonia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba, Lagos. bioodu@yahoo.com
authors.forename: A O
authors.initials: AO
authors.lastname: Oduwole
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Renner
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Disu
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ibitoye
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Emokpae
mesh_terms: D002118:Calcium / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002762:Cholecalciferol / Q000097:blood*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications*; D011379:Prognosis; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000097:blood*; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications*; D014815:Vitamins
chemical_list: D014815:Vitamins; D014807:Vitamin D; D002762:Cholecalciferol; D002118:Calcium