ArticleNutrition research and practice2020
Occurrence of infections in schoolchildren subsequent to supplementation with vitamin D-calcium or zinc: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.
Article in Nutrition research and practice, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 22 citations in OpenAlex.
- Vitamin D supplementation to prevent acute respiratory infections: systematic review and meta-analysis of stratified aggregate data.The lancet. Diabetes & endocrinology · 2025Pooled it
- Optimal methods of vitamin D supplementation to prevent acute respiratory infections: a systematic review, dose-response and pairwise meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Nutrition journal · 2024Pooled it
- Zinc for prevention and treatment of the common cold.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2024Pooled it
- A meta-analysis of the association between vitamin D supplementation and the risk of acute respiratory tract infection in the healthy pediatric group.Frontiers in nutrition · 2023Pooled it
- Novel Chewable Pleuran-Based Supplement Decreases Respiratory Tract Infections in Children: A Randomised Controlled Trial.Advances in therapy · 2025Trial
- Zinc supplementation for preventing mortality, morbidity, and growth failure in children aged 6 months to 12 years.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Review
- Serum zinc levels in pediatric patients with COVID-19.European journal of pediatrics · 2022Observational
- The Efficacy of Calcium Carbonate-Vitamin D3 in Pregnant Women for the Prevention of Hypertensive Disorders in Pregnancy.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2022Article
- Vitamin D Status and Its Influence on the Health of Preschool Children in Hangzhou.Frontiers in public health · 2021Article
- Modern India and Dietary Calcium Deficiency-Half a Century Nutrition Data-Retrospect-Introspect and the Road Ahead.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2021Review
- Vitamin D supplementation to prevent acute respiratory infections: systematic review and meta-analysis of aggregate data from randomised controlled trials.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2020Article
- The Role of Micronutrients in Support of the Immune Response against Viral Infections.Nutrients · 2020Review
- Key Vitamin D Target Genes with Functions in the Immune System.Nutrients · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BACKGROUND/
objectivesVitamin D and zinc are recognized for their roles in immune-modulation, and their deficiencies are suggested to be important risk factors for childhood infections. This study, therefore, undertook to assess the occurrence of infections in rural Indian schoolchildren, subsequent to daily supplementation with vitamin D-calcium or zinc for 6 months. MATERIALS/
methodsThis was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in apparently healthy 6-12 year-old rural Indian children, recruited to 3 study arms: vitamin D arm (1,000 IU D3 - 500 mg calcium, n = 135), zinc arm (10 mg, n = 150) and placebo arm (n = 150). The infection status was assessed using a validated questionnaire, and the biochemical parameters of serum 25(OH)D and serum zinc were measured by ELISA and colorimetry, respectively. The primary outcome variable was occurrence of infections (upper respiratory and total infections).
resultsSerum 25(OH)D concentration in the vitamin D arm improved significantly by 34%, from 59.7 ± 10.9 nmol/L to 80 ± 23.3 nmol/L (
conclusionsVitamin D-calcium supplementation helped to improve the vitamin D status but exerts no effect on the occurrence of infections when compared to the placebo group. Improvement in the serum 25(OH)D concentrations and attainment of vitamin D sufficiency may exert a beneficial effect on the infection status and needs to be investigated further. To evaluate the efficacy of zinc supplementation, higher dosages need to be administered in future studies.
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