High Vitamin D dosage may not cut curb common cold in toddlers

Washington D.C. [USA], July 19 (ANI): Parents please-take-note! A study has revealed that giving high doses of Vitamin D than the recommended amount may not protect your toddler from catching cold in winters. Among children 1 to 5 years of age, daily high-dose administration of Vitamin D did not reduce overall wintertime upper respiratory tract infections. Viral upper respiratory tract infections are the most common infectious illnesses of childhood. Both observational and clinical trial data have suggested a link between low levels of serum 25-hydroxy Vitamin D and increased rates of respiratory tract infections. Whether winter supplementation of Vitamin D reduces the risk among children is unknown. Jonathon L. Maguire from Researchers from the University of Toronto randomly assigned children aged one through five years to receive 2,000 IU/d of vitamin D oral supplementation (high-dose group; n=349) or 400 IU/d (standard-dose group; n=354) for a minimum of four months between September and May. The average number of laboratory-confirmed (based on parent-collected nasal swabs) upper respiratory tract infections per child were 1.05 for the high-dose group and 1.03 for the standard-dose group. "These findings do not support the routine use of high-dose vitamin D supplementation in children for the prevention of viral upper respiratory tract infections," the authors stated. A limitation of the study was that children may have had upper respiratory tract infections without swabs being submitted. The study appears in journal JAMA. (ANI)