Lower vitamin D levels are associated with increased risk of early-onset neonatal sepsis in term infants

Objective: To evaluate the effect of vitamin D levels on early-onset sepsis (EOS) in term infants. Study Design: Fifty term infants with clinical and laboratory findings of EOS (study group) and 50 healthy infants with no signs of clinical/laboratory infection (control group) were enrolled. Blood was drawn at the time of admission during the first 3 postnatal days of life in both groups for measurement of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OHD) levels. Result: Maternal and neonatal 25-OHD levels (22.2/8.6 ng ml −1 , respectively) in the study group were significantly lower than those of the control group (36.2/19 ng ml −1 , respectively, P