title: Vitamin D sufficiency and Staphylococcus aureus infection in children.
abstract: Vitamin D promotes epithelial immunity by upregulating antimicrobial peptides, including LL-37, which have bactericidal activity against Staphylococcus aureus. We found that children with vitamin D deficiency or insufficiency [25-hydroxyvitamin D <30 ng/mL] were more likely to present with recurrent, rather than primary, S. aureus skin or soft tissue infection. Vitamin D sufficiency may be one of a myriad of host and environmental factors that can be directly impacted to reduce the frequency of S. aureus skin and soft tissue infection.
authors: From the *Department of Pediatrics and †Department of Molecular Microbiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri.
authors: Jeffrey W
authors: JW
authors: Wang
authors: Patrick G
authors: PG
authors: Hogan
authors: David A
authors: DA
authors: Hunstad
authors: Stephanie A
authors: SA
authors: Fritz
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D055815:Young Adult