Shropshire Star

Vitamins could have prevented baby's death

An expert has called for all babies to be given vitamin supplements following the death of a Shropshire boy from a disease thought to have been eradicated from the UK,

Published
Beverley Thahane with son Noah, who died aged six months

Noah Thahane, from St George's Telford, was just six months old when he died from rickets in January last year.

Experts from Birmingham University now say his death was entirely preventable, and called for a tightening guidelines so that children did not contract the disease.

Rickets largely disappeared from Britain in the 1950s following improvements to air quality, better diet and the fortification of foodstuffs with added vitamin D.

But Noah's death has sparked concerns that many other children could be suffering from the illness.

"I'm very concerned that what we see is the tip of the iceberg," said Dr Wolfgang Hogler, of Birmingham Children's Hospital.

"There are many more cases that we don't know about."

Now a study by Dr Hogler and PhD doctoral researcher Dr Suma Uday has called for the Government to change its public health policy by monitoring babies and pregnant women to ensure they take vitamin D supplements.

The experts studied Noah's case, along with two other children who recovered from the illness. All three children were from dark-skinned ethnic backgrounds.

The disease is caused by a lack of vitamin D, which is often attributed to a lack of exposure to sunlight. A lack of calcium in the diet can also be a problem.

The body is capable of producing vitamin D when exposed to sunlight. But black and Asian children, whose dark skin makes it harder to produce the vitamin, are at particular risk, particularly during the winter months.

Noah's mother Beverley, 37, said the death had left her heartbroken.

She said she had no idea about the importance of giving vitamin D supplements to protect babies' health.

"Vitamin D (deficiency) is a silent killer," she said. "I am without a child now and the sickness was silent, nobody knew, nobody picked it up

"I had not been informed of the need for infant vitamin D supplementation, or that we were at greater risk due to having dark skin, and I had no idea how catastrophic the effects of a vitamin D deficiency can be.

"I was utterly heartbroken when Noah died and horrified to learn that Noah's death could have been entirely prevented," added the hospital clerical officer.

Dr Hogler, an honorary reader at Birmingham University, said under present NHS guidelines, mothers-to-be are advised to take vitamin D supplements and every mother is advised to give it to her baby.

But he said the policy had proved ineffective.

"Most, 85 per cent of all parents, don't even know the programme exists," said Dr Hogler.

"Noah's mum is one of those. She was completely unaware that she was supposed to give it to the baby."

Department of Health advice is that every baby should receive the vitamin daily from the age of six months, or from birth if they are being breast-fed. Formula milk has vitamin D added to reduce the risk.

Dr Hogler said the surest way to keep babies safe would be to go back to adding vitamin D to food as had been done in the immediate postwar years.

"It is the most elegant and cheapest way," he said.

"We could put a safe amount of vitamin D into food and particularly foods that high-risk groups eat."