{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T01:41:34Z","timestamp":1760060494082,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":45,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,25]],"date-time":"2025-08-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1756080000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"University of Oradea","award":["410068"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["410068"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Children"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/Objective: Adequate serum vitamin D levels are essential for overall health, particularly in preventing oropharyngeal infections. This study aims to explore the relationship between serum vitamin D (25(OH)D3) levels and the prevalence of oropharyngeal diseases\u2014specifically rhinosinusitis, otitis media, and nasopharyngitis\u2014in patients at a private specialist medical clinic. Materials and Methods: The study involved 311 patients with an average age of 15.96 \u00b1 15.06 years. Statistical analyses, including Student\u2019s t-test and chi-square test, were conducted to evaluate the significance of the findings. Results: Nasopharyngitis was highly prevalent, affecting 83.27% of participants, with higher recurrence rates in those with lower vitamin D levels (p = 0.001). Otitis media was present in 53.37% of cases, while rhinosinusitis was less common and more frequently associated with higher vitamin D levels. Patients with behavioral disorders had significantly higher mean vitamin D levels (34.82 ng\/mL \u00b1 11.85) compared to those without (28.49 ng\/mL \u00b1 14.37) (p = 0.001). Conclusions: A subgroup of children with neutropenia (ANC &lt; 1500\/\u03bcL) exhibited significantly lower vitamin D levels and higher infection recurrence rates, underscoring their heightened vulnerability. This study highlights the importance of maintaining optimal vitamin D levels for pediatric health and suggests that higher vitamin D levels may reduce the risk of oropharyngeal infections.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/children12091116","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,25]],"date-time":"2025-08-25T07:30:29Z","timestamp":1756107029000},"page":"1116","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["The Essential Role of Vitamin D in Pediatric Health: Implications for Oropharyngeal Infections and Neutropenia-Associated Vulnerability"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2153-1148","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Felicia","family":"Manole","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Clinical Department, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, University of Oradea, 410068 Oradea, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Evelin Claudia","family":"Ghitea","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, University of Oradea, 410068 Oradea, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Marc Cristian","family":"Ghitea","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, University of Oradea, 410068 Oradea, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8981-1958","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Timea Claudia","family":"Ghitea","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Pharmacy Department, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, University of Oradea, 410068 Oradea, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Alexia","family":"Manole","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, University of Oradea, 410068 Oradea, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"14","DOI":"10.1016\/j.bbrc.2021.10.042","article-title":"Linking covid-19 and parkinson\u2019s disease: Targeting the role of vitamin-d","volume":"583","author":"Behl","year":"2021","journal-title":"Biochem. 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