Abstract

BACKGROUND: Vitamin D supplementation may reduce the risk or severity of infection, but this has been investigated in few large population-based trials. We analyzed data from the D-Health Trial, using prescription of antibiotics as a surrogate for infection. METHODS: The D-Health Trial is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in which 21,315 Australians aged 60-84 years were randomized to 60,000 IU of supplementary vitamin D3 or placebo monthly for 5 years. For this analysis, the primary outcome was the number of antibiotic prescription episodes; secondary outcomes were total number of prescriptions; repeat prescription episodes; and antibiotics for urinary tract infection. We estimated incidence rate ratios (IRRs) using negative binomial regression, and odds ratios using logistic regression. RESULTS: Vitamin D supplementation slightly reduced the number of prescription episodes (IRR 0.98, 95% CI 0.95-1.01), total prescriptions (IRR 0.97, 95% CI 0.93-1.00), and repeat prescription episodes (IRR 0.96, 95% CI 0.93-1.00). There was stronger evidence of benefit in people predicted to have insufficient vitamin D at baseline (prescription episodes IRR 0.93, 95% CI 0.87-0.99). CONCLUSIONS: Vitamin D may reduce the number of antibiotic prescriptions, particularly in people with low vitamin D status. This supports the hypothesis that vitamin D has a clinically relevant effect on the immune system.

Authors	Pham, Hai; Waterhouse, Mary; Baxter, Catherine; Romero, Briony Duarte; McLeod, Donald S A; Armstrong, Bruce K; Ebeling, Peter R; English, Dallas R; Hartel, Gunter; Kimlin, Michael G; O'Connell, Rachel L; van der Pols, Jolieke C; Venn, Alison J; Webb, Penelope M; Whiteman, David C; Neale, Rachel E
Journal	The Journal of infectious diseases
Pages	949-957
Volume	226
Date	1/01/2022
Grant ID
Funding Body
URL	http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=10.1093/infdis/jiac279