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  • Rights: The University of Waikato
    Published 18 October 2010 Referencing Hub media
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    Dr Joanna Kirman leads a team at the Malaghan Institute investigating respiratory syncytial virus1 (RSV). RSV is a common but nasty lung infection2. The aim of the research is to understand why New Zealand has such a high rate of severe RSV. Vitamin3 D deficiency could be the answer, and if so, adding a vitamin D supplement would provide a simple solution.

    Transcript

    DR JOANNA KIRMAN
    RSV stands for respiratory syncytial virus, and RSV causes a disease4 called bronchiolitis, which infects small children and generally causes a very, very nasty inflammatory lung infection. RSV is incredibly common – pretty much every kid will have encountered RSV by the time they are 2 years old.

    RSV is a really good example of immunological memory. Immunological memory is really great because the first time you see the infection, it will probably cause a disease, but your immune response5 can remember that, and the next time you see that infection, you will get a milder form of the disease.

    There is no vaccine6 for RSV, and our aim has been to try and understand why in New Zealand we’ve got such a high rate of severe RSV bronchiolitis, because our hospitalisation rate is about double that of other countries that are similar to New Zealand like Canada or Australia or the United States.

    We are doing a collaborative study with another group in Wellington looking at vitamin D levels in children who are hospitalised with RSV. Because RSV like the flu tends to occur during the winter months, we think that, during the winter months, our vitamin D levels are really low because vitamin D needs to have sunlight to be converted to its active form in the body, and we can all – as a population7 – tend to be quite vitamin D deficient during winter, and that can make us susceptible to many diseases8. And we are looking to see whether the children who have the severe RSV bronchiolitis are actually more vitamin D deficient than children who are able to fight off their infection in the community.

    If we find that children who have got severe RSV are vitamin D deficient, it is easy to just supplement the diet with vitamin D. It could be that vitamin D gets added in higher amounts to things like infant formula or foods that small children are eating, so it will be quite an easy solution.

    Acknowledgement:
    CDC Centres for Disease Control9 & Prevention
    Matteo Di Nardo, Daniela Perrotta, Francesca Stoppa, Corrado Cecchetti, Marco Marano and Nicola Pirozzi
    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
    Lil Critters® Gummy Bear Vitamins

    1. virus: A microscopic infectious particle that can only multiply inside the cells of living organisms. They are capable of taking over the cell to produce copies of itself. They are inactive outside of a living host cell.
    2. infection: Invasion of the body or a species by something that could be harmful or cause a disease.
    3. vitamin: An organic compound required as a nutrient in tiny amounts by an organism.
    4. diseases: 1. An abnormal condition of an organism that impairs bodily functions. 2. In plants, an abnormal condition that interferes with vital physiological processes.
    5. immune response: How your body recognises and defends itself against bacteria, viruses and substances that appear foreign and harmful.
    6. vaccine: A substance that improves immunity to a particular disease. The vaccine stimulates the body’s immune system so that it can more easily recognise and destroy a particular microorganism that it later encounters.
    7. population: In biology, a population is a group of organisms of a species that live in the same place at a same time and that can interbreed.
    8. diseases: 1. An abnormal condition of an organism that impairs bodily functions. 2. In plants, an abnormal condition that interferes with vital physiological processes.
    9. control: 1. Part of a scientific experiment in which no treatment has been applied in order to see whether there are any detectable differences to the experiment that did receive a treatment. 2. To hold in check or to curb.
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      virus

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    2. A microscopic infectious particle that can only multiply inside the cells of living organisms. They are capable of taking over the cell to produce copies of itself. They are inactive outside of a living host cell.

      diseases

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    4. 1. An abnormal condition of an organism that impairs bodily functions.

      2. In plants, an abnormal condition that interferes with vital physiological processes.

      population

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    6. In biology, a population is a group of organisms of a species that live in the same place at a same time and that can interbreed.

      infection

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    8. Invasion of the body or a species by something that could be harmful or cause a disease.

      immune response

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    10. How your body recognises and defends itself against bacteria, viruses and substances that appear foreign and harmful.

      control

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    12. 1. Part of a scientific experiment in which no treatment has been applied in order to see whether there are any detectable differences to the experiment that did receive a treatment.

      2. To hold in check or to curb.

      vitamin

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    14. An organic compound required as a nutrient in tiny amounts by an organism.

      vaccine

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    16. A substance that improves immunity to a particular disease. The vaccine stimulates the body’s immune system so that it can more easily recognise and destroy a particular microorganism that it later encounters.