MILAN, ITALY. A study just reported at the Interscience Conference on
Anti-Microbial Agents and Chemotherapy by Susanna Esposito and colleagues
found that supplementation with 1000 IU of vitamin D per day significantly
decreased the risk of experiencing one or more episodes of acute otitis media
(ear infection) in a group of children of mean age 33 months. Vitamin D levels
as measured by 25-hydroxyvitamin D were 25.8 ng/mL in the placebo group and
26.5 ng/mL in the intervention group. After 6 months, the placebo group had
levels of 18.7 ng/mL vs. the treatment group at 36.2 ng/Ml. Over a 12 month
period prior to the study the average number of episodes was 5 in each
group and one-third were complicated by perforation. During the 6 months
of the study, there were 10/58 children who had one or more episodes
in the vitamin D group vs. 29/58 in the placebo group. It is of interest
that the conventional treatment protocol has been subject to some
controversy because of the issue of the overuse of antibiotics, with
recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics in February
2013 advocating stricter diagnostic criteria and observing rather
than treating patients with uncomplicated cases. Vitamin D levels
>30 ng/mL are regarded as sufficient but the optimum level in this
age group does not appear well studied. More impressive results might
have been found if the treated group had reached 40-50 ng/mL.
Esposito S et Al. Vitamin D supplementation reduces the risk of acute
otitis media in otis-prone children, Pediatr Infect Dis J,
2013 Oct;32(10):1055-60
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