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Prevalence of vitamin D deficiency rickets in the eastern part of Turkey

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An Erratum to this article was published on 07 October 2008

Abstract

Turkey, especially its eastern part, has been accepted as endemic for vitamin D deficiency rickets (VDDR). In a study performed by our team in the region in 1998, the incidence of VDDR was 6.09% in children aged between 0–3 years. In 2005, the Ministry of Health initiated a free vitamin D supplementation campaign nationwide for every infant to eradicate VDDR. In this study, we aimed to investigate the prevalence of VDDR in children aged between 0–3 years in order to evaluate the effectiveness of this campaign. Between March 2007 and February 2008, 39,133 children aged between 0–3 years who were brought to different pediatric outpatient clinics in Erzurum, Turkey, were examined for VDDR. VDDR diagnosis was made by radiological and biochemical findings in the cases who were initially suspected of having clinical VDDR. During a one-year period, 39 (0.099%) of the 39,133 patients were diagnosed with VDDR. None of the cases with rickets was taking vitamin D supplementation. The most frequent physical findings were rachitic rosary, enlargement of the wrists, and craniotabes. The laboratory findings of the cases were compatible with VDDR; serum calcium (Ca) 7.5 ± 1.9 mg/dL, PO4 4.4 ± 1.3 mg/dL, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) 1,341 ± 823, 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25 (OH) D) 5.8 ± 2.9 ng/mL, intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH) 240 ± 106 pg/mL. It was concluded that, although VDDR has been a continuing childhood health problem, a nationwide free vitamin D supplementation campaign initiated by the government appeared to be effective in eliminating VDDR.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Ministry of Health of Turkey, and the authors would like to thank Prof. Recep Akdağ, M.D., Minister of Health in Turkey.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatric Endocrinology, Ataturk University, Erzurum, Turkey

    Behzat Ozkan & Hakan Doneray

  2. Department of Pediatrics, Ataturk University, Erzurum, Turkey

    Mehmet Karacan, Zuhal Keskin Yıldırım & Celalettin Kosan

  3. Department of Public Health, Ataturk University, Erzurum, Turkey

    Serhat Vançelik

  4. Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Ataturk University, Erzurum, Turkey

    Asuman Ozkan

  5. Faculty of Humanities, Ataturk University, Erzurum, Turkey

    Kamil Aydın

  6. Atatürk Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi Pediatrik Endokrinoloji BD, Erzurum, Türkiye

    Behzat Ozkan

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  1. Behzat Ozkan
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  2. Hakan Doneray
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  3. Mehmet Karacan
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  6. Asuman Ozkan
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Correspondence to Behzat Ozkan.

Additional information

Behzat Ozkan and Hakan Doneray should be regarded as the first authors.

An erratum to this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00431-008-0846-3

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Ozkan, B., Doneray, H., Karacan, M. et al. Prevalence of vitamin D deficiency rickets in the eastern part of Turkey. Eur J Pediatr 168, 95–100 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-008-0821-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-008-0821-z

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