A prospective investigational study of Vitamin D status in patients with hospital-acquired pneumonia

Hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP) is the most common healthcare-associated infection (HCAI) contributing to death. Rising antimicrobial resistance has resulted in few effective antibiotics for HAP. Stimulation of human immunity and immunomodulation have been reported as a role of vitamin D. 1. To investigate vitamin D status of HAP patients. 2. To examine if vitamin D status was related to severity of HAP. Patients with a diagnosis were recruited for a 3 month-period from two acute hospitals. Vitamin D levels of participants were obtained. Sixty-one participants were recruited with a mean age 72 years, with 77% of the participants over 65 years of age. Severe HAP was diagnosed in 92% of the participants, 5% had moderate and 3% had mild HAP. Vitamin D deficiency (< 50 nmol/L) was found in 80% of the participants and 41% of the participants were found to be suffering from severe vitamin D deficiency (< 15 nmol/L). Participants that had adequate vitamin D levels (12/61) (20%) were all taking prophylactic vitamin D on admission. Overall, 26/61 (43%) of the participants were taking prescribed prophylactic vitamin D supplementation on admission and despite this supplementation,14/26 (54%) were found to be vitamin D deficient. Vitamin D deficiency was highly prevalent in the HAP participants. Vitamin D deficiency was also present in some participants, despite prescribed prophylactic supplementation. Vitamin D stimulates immunity and hence vitamin D deficiency would have potentially increased the susceptibility of acquiring HAP.