Vitamin D Supplements for Prevention of Tuberculosis Infection and Disease.

Study answer

What this study found

Weekly vitamin D3 markedly increased 25(OH)D but did not reduce Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection, tuberculosis disease, or acute respiratory infection versus placebo. For the primary endpoint, positive QFT at end occurred in 3.6% (147 of 4074) of the vitamin D group versus 3.3% (134 of 4043) of the placebo group, with an adjusted risk ratio of 1.10 (95% CI 0.87 to 1.38; P = 0.42). Tuberculosis disease was rare and similar between groups: 21 of 4401 (0.5%) versus 25 of 4418 (0.6%), adjusted RR 0.87 (95% CI 0.49 to 1.55); acute respiratory infection hospitalization was also similar at 29…

Study & population

Randomized placebo-controlled trial in vitamin D-deficient schoolchildren aged 6-13 years in 18 public schools in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

Intervention

Vitamin D3 was given orally at 14,000 IU (0.35 mg) once weekly for 3 years.

Key limitation

The main outcomes were uncommon, especially tuberculosis disease, which limits power to detect modest effects.

View full study detailsView sourceOpen PDF

Original abstract