Is vitamin D deficiency a risk factor for COVID‐19 in children?

• Published in: Pediatric pulmonology Vol. 55; no. 12; pp. 3595 - 3601
• Main Authors: Yılmaz, Kamil, Şen, Velat
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.12.2020; John Wiley and Sons Inc
• Subjects: Adolescent; Betacoronavirus; Calcifediol - blood; Case-Control Studies; Child; Child, Preschool; Coronavirus; Coronavirus Infections - blood; Coronavirus Infections - epidemiology; Coronavirus Infections - physiopathology; COVID-19; Female; Fever - physiopathology; Humans; Infant; Male; Original; Pandemics; Pediatrics; Phosphorus - blood; Pneumonia, Viral - blood; Pneumonia, Viral - epidemiology; Pneumonia, Viral - physiopathology; Prevalence; Risk Factors; SARS-CoV-2; Turkey - epidemiology; Vitamin D; Vitamin D - blood; Vitamin D Deficiency - blood; Vitamin D Deficiency - epidemiology; Vitamin deficiency; Vitamins; Turkey
• ISSN: 8755-6863; 1099-0496; 1099-0496
• DOI: 10.1002/ppul.25106

Objective Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) is a global health problem that can result in serious complications. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and clinical importance of vitamin D deficiency in children with COVID‐19. Material and Methods This study includes 40 patients who were diagnosed to have COVID‐19 and hospitalized with the real‐time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction method, 45 healthy matched control subjects with vitamin D levels. The age of admission, clinical and laboratory data, and 25‐hydroxycholecalciferol (25‐OHD) levels were recorded. Those with vitamin D levels which are below 20 ng/ml were determined as Group 1 and those with ≥20 ng/ml as Group 2. Results Patients with COVID‐19 had significantly lower vitamin D levels 13.14 μg/L (4.19–69.28) than did the controls 34.81 (3.8–77.42) μg/L (p < .001). Patients with COVID‐19 also had significantly lower serum phosphorus (4.09 ± 0.73 vs. 5.06 ± 0.93 vs. (U/L) (p < .001)) values compared with the controls. The symptom of fever was significantly higher in COVID‐ 19 patients who had deficient and insufficient vitamin D levels than in patients who had sufficient vitamin D levels (p = .038). There was a negative correlation found between fever symptom and vitamin D level (r = −0.358, p = .023). Conclusion This is the first to evaluate vitamin D levels and its relationship with clinical findings in pediatric patients with COVID‐19. Our results suggest that vitamin D values may be associated with the occurrence and management of the COVID‐19 disease by modulating the immunological mechanism to the virus in the pediatric population.