December 2024, Volume 2, Issue 12

Author

Tapas Jyoti Roy, Manish Agrawal, Renu Yadav, Shekhar Sharma and Neeraj Kabra

Abstract

Objective: Comparative study of vitamin D status in late preterm and term neonates with sepsis and healthy neonates in a tertiary care hospital in Northern India. Methods: In this hospital-based case control study conducted over 12 months, a total of 70 late preterm and term neonates were included, with 35 neonates each in the sepsis group and non-sepsis group. The difference between the mean vitamin D level of the neonates with sepsis and neonates without sepsis group was calculated. The association of VDD with neonatal sepsis was determined by multivariate logistic regression analysis. P value of 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The study found that about 80% of neonates in the septic group and 52% of neonates in the non-septic group had vitamin D deficiency. The mean Cholecalciferol in the septic group (13.51 ng/ml ± 6.56 ng/ml) was significantly lower (p value 0.02) than in the non-septic group (24.47 n/ml ± 8.73 ng/ml). There was a positive correlation between degree of vitamin D deficiency (severe VDD and insufficiency) and sepsis (p = 0.005). Prolonged hospital stay and antibiotic treatment were observed in the septic group (p < 0.001) with significant mortality (p < 0.001). Logistic regression analysis showed that lower vitamin D levels, maternal hypertension, premature birth, and lower birth weight significantly increased the odds of sepsis, highlighting these as predictive factors for adverse outcomes. Conclusion: The study showed a significant association of neonatal sepsis with vitamin D. The study highlights extended hospital stays and increased mortality among septic neonates with vitamin D deficiency.