Croup is a barking cough brought on by an upper airway infection that makes it difficult to breathe.

A new clinical trial found that babies and kids under 3 years old are less likely to get croup if their mothers took fish oil and vitamin D supplements while they were pregnant.

The results come from a randomised controlled trial, which is the “gold standard” for medical research and will be presented at the European Respiratory Society International Congress in Barcelona, Spain.

This is the first large-scale study of its kind to look at how vitamin D and fish oil affect croup.

Croup is a childhood chest infection. It results in a distinctive “barking” cough, a raspy voice, and breathing difficulties. Although croup is frequently mild, some kids will require hospital care and breathing assistance.

There is now no vaccination available against the bacteria that causes this disease. Since croup affects infants and young children, additional preventive measures, including those started during pregnancy, are required. 

“For such purpose, there is evidence,” according to Dr. Nicklas Brustad, who presented the research, “that both vitamin D and fish oil could have an influence on the immune system.”

736 COPSAC-treated pregnant women from 2010 were included in the study. Women were split up into four different groups.

A high-dose vitamin D supplement (2800 international units per day) and fish oil containing long-chain n-3-polyunsaturated fatty acids (2.4 grams) were given to one group; a high-dose vitamin D supplement and olive oil were given to a second group; a standard-dose vitamin D supplement (400 international units per day) and fish oil were given to a third group; and a standard-dose vitamin D supplement and olive oil were given to a fourth group.

From their 24th week of pregnancy until one week after giving birth, all of the women took the supplements every day. Until the study’s conclusion, neither the participants nor the researchers were aware of the supplements the women were taking.

The children were tracked by the researchers until they were three years old, and any who were suspected of having croup were diagnosed by a clinician or through their medical records. The youngsters had 97 different incidences of croup in total.

Overall, croup risk was 11% for kids whose moms took fish oil, compared to 17% for kids whose mothers took olive oil (a 38% reduction). Children whose moms consumed high doses of vitamin D had an 11% risk of developing croup, compared to children whose mothers consumed conventional doses, which is a 40% reduction.

The results show “that vitamin D and fish oil could be beneficial against childhood croup in sufficiently high doses,” adds Dr. Brustad, highlighting “these are relatively cheap supplements meaning that this could be a very cost-effective approach to improving young children’s health.

“We are not sure of the exact mechanisms behind the beneficial effects of vitamin D and fish oil, but it could be that they can stimulate the immune system to help babies and young children clear infections more effectively.”

Including its impact on bone formation, the central nervous system, body composition, and asthma, the research team at COPSAC has already looked into further possible advantages of vitamin D and fish oil during pregnancy. They want to continue following the children in the study and look into why certain children are more susceptible to infections in childhood than others.

“We know,” adds Professor Rory Morty from the University of Heidelberg, who was not involved in the study, “that lung health in babies and young children can be influenced during pregnancy.”

According to the professor, the study “suggests that taking vitamin D and fish oil supplements during pregnancy could have benefits for babies and young children.

“We would like to see further research in this area to support these findings as this could lead to new recommendations for supplementation during pregnancy. Pregnant women should always speak to their doctor before taking supplements.”

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