Vitamin D Levels have a Potential Role in Predicting the Disease Severity in COVID-19 Positive Pediatric Patients
2023
Maria Hassan | Iffat Batool | Hasan Mujtaba | Muhammad Mohsin Javaid | Uzma Abid
<p><strong>Background and Objective</strong>: The contagious and invasive nature has made coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) a critical health issue for the community. The lower respiratory tract is the major site of inflammation seen in COVID-19-positive individuals. Vitamin D (Vit D) has been proposed to have a positive role in immunomodulation, hence, this study aimed to determine the association between Vit D levels and the severity of COVID-19 in infected pediatric patients presenting at a secondary healthcare hospital in Pakistan.</p> <p><strong>Methods:</strong> This cross-sectional analytical study was conducted on 100 pediatric patients of the age range 1-18 years from March to December 2021. These patients were hospitalized and diagnosed with coronavirus disease with confirmed results on a real‐time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. Blood samples of the patients were taken to monitor the baseline levels of markers of acute infection and Vit D levels. Patients with serum Vit D levels ≤ 20ng/ml were labeled with deficiency, those with levels 21-29ng/ml were presumed to have Vit D insufficiency whereas levels ≥30 ng/ml were considered normal.</p> <p><strong>Results:</strong> There were 57 (57%) males and 43 (43%) female pediatric patients. The mean age of the patients was 10.46 ± 4.25 years (1-18 years). The deficient Vit D level group had a greater frequency of pyrexia, weakness, cough, anosmia, headache, myalgia, and diarrhea. The levels of Vit D and severity of the disease were significantly associated (p-value = 0.027).</p> <p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Pediatric patients with COVID-19 having optimum levels of Vit D were less likely to develop complications associated with the severity of the disease.</p>
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