Association of vitamin D status with acute respiratory infection and diarrhoea in children less than two years of age in urban Bangladesh

Presenter

A M Shamsir Ahmed - PhD Thesis Review milestone presentation

Advisors

Dr Abdullah Mamun (Principal); Dr Kurt Long, Dr Ricardo J. Soares Magalhães, and Dr Tahmeed Ahmed (Associate)

Overview

Vitamin D is a micronutrient that helps regulate extracellular calcium levels and bone health. Recent evidence suggests a non-skeletal role in infectious diseases, inflammatory responses and neoplastic diseases. This has lead to renewed momentum for public health research into the potential role of Vitamin D in the prevention and control of major childhood infectious diseases such as diarrhoea and pneumonia.

This thesis review presentation will show the burden of vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency among urban children under 2 years old as well as its associated risk factors. It will also discuss the association between vitamin D and other micronutrient status with leading childhood infectious diseases including diarrhoea and acute respiratory infections.

Brief Bio

A M Shamsir Ahmed is a final year PhD student in the field of nutrition infection interaction at the School of Public Health, UQ. He is a medical doctor and public health research investigator with particular interest in immunological and molecular aspects. He has been actively involved with several clinical trials, nutritional surveys for monitoring and evaluation, longitudinal study and community based interventional studies. His current areas of research involve a multidisciplinary approach to understand the relationship between enteric pathogens, malnutrition, gut physiology, gut microbiome, physical growth and immune responses in infants and children living in resource-poor environments.