Vitamin D status in healthy Romanian caregivers and risk of respiratory infections.

Objectives: To investigate the vitamin D status during winter of a healthy population of hospital employees and to assess the correlation between vitamin D status and risk of infections in the upper respiratory tract.

Design: One hundred and ten healthy volunteers answered a questionnaire on their solar exposure habits and vitamin D intake and delivered one blood sample for quantification of vitamin D level (serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentration) during December 2007-January 2008. At the end of the winter we screened for the occurrence of respiratory infections and sought associations with vitamin D status.