Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and intramuscular vitamin D3 supplementation among Eritrean migrants recently arrived in Switzerland

• DOI: 10.4414/smw.2017.14568
• Publication Date: 2017-12-28T07:49:32Z
• Authors: Afona Chernet; Nicole-Probst Hensch; Kerstin Kling; Véronique Sydow; Christosph Hatz; Daniel H. Paris; Katharina Rentsch; Beatrice Nickel; Andreas Neumayr; Niklaus Daniel La...
• Keywords: Interquartile range; Intramuscular injection

In a cross-sectional screening programme, we assessed serum vitamin D levels in adult Eritrean refugees recently arrived Switzerland. Median level among 107 participants (95 males and 12 females) was 27 nmol/l (interquartile range 23-42 nmol/l), 86% had insufficient (≤50 nmol/l) 36% severe deficiency (<25 nmol/l). 29 who received single-dose intramuscular substitution (300 000 IU), median increased from 25 to 35 after 3 months (p = 0.005); only 11 (38%) reached sufficient levels. migrants should be routinely screened for deficiency. Single-dose supplementation appeared achieve optimal the majority of participants.