Comparison of Vitamin A and Vitamin D Levels of 0-36 Months Old Children, Who were Admitted to Pediatric Inpatient Clinic with Lower Respiratory Tract Infection and Healthy Children within the Same Age Group

Background Lower respiratory system infections are highly common in young children and may require inpatient treatment. Studies have shown that patients treated and followed up for lower respiratory system infections have low levels of vitamin A and Vitamin D. In our study, we aimed to determine whether the deficiencies of these vitamins are risk factors for the development of lower respiratory system infections by comparing the serum vitamin A and vitamin D levels of patients 0-36months with lower respiratory tract infection and healthy children. Materials and Method The study included 82 children who applied to pediatric outpatient clinic between February 1st 2020 and June 30th 2020 with lower respiratory tract infection between the age 0-36 months, who gave blood sample for determination of serum vitamin A and vitamin D levels. 58 healthy children who applied to the outpatient clinic for routine check-up were determined as the control group. Age, sex, height and weight of all children were recorded. Results The average vitamin D level of those in the lower respiratory tract infection group was found to be 15.96±7.49ng/ml and those in the healthy group had average vitamin D levels of 32.19±14.27 ng/ml, showing that the sick group had statistically significantly lower levels of vitamin D (p=0.0001). The average vitamin A level of those in the sick group was found to be 170.42±60.42 ng/ml, whereas those in the control group had average vitamin A levels of 284.42±71.2 ng/ml, which showed that those in the sick group had statistically significantly low levels of vitamin A (p=0.0001). Our study showed that there is a positive statistically meaningful correlation between the vitamin D variable and the vitamin A variable (r=0.432, p=0.0001). Conclusions Our study is the only study in the literature comparing both the vitamin A and vitamin D levels of patients with lower respiratory tract infection. Vitamin A and vitamin D levels of patients with lower respiratory tract infections are found to be lower compared to healthy children, therefore we predict that controlling the vitamin levels of such patient and giving the appropriate treatment when needed, will lower the morbidity and mortality caused by lower respiratory tract infections.