Research paper
Vitamin C for preventing and treating pneumonia.
Study answer
What this study found
Overall, vitamin C showed possible benefit in some prevention and treatment settings, but results were inconsistent and not strong enough to support routine use for the general population. In prophylaxis trials, pneumonia incidence was 0/335 versus 17/1100 in Glazebrook 1942, 2/114 versus 10/112 in Kimbarowski 1967, and 1/331 versus 7/343 in Pitt 1979, while hospital-acquired pneumonia prevention in Tanaka 2000 showed no clear benefit (7/19 vs 6/18). In Hunt 1994, the most severely ill subgroup had improved respiratory score change with vitamin C versus placebo, -2.38 (95% CI -4.32, -0.44),…
- Study & population
- Systematic review of clinical trials assessing vitamin C for preventing and treating pneumonia in community and hospital settings.
- Intervention
- Vitamin C was evaluated as both prophylaxis and treatment for pneumonia across multiple trials, given orally as pills or powder, added to milk or cocoa, or administered intravenously.
- Key limitation
- The evidence base was small, old, and clinically heterogeneous, with major variation in populations, pneumonia setting, dose, route, and outcome definitions.
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Open PDFOriginal abstract
BACKGROUND Pneumonia is one of the most common serious infections, causing two million deaths annually among young children in low-income countries. In high-income countries pneumonia is most significantly a problem of the elderly. OBJECTIVES To asse…