We thank the authors for the interest in our article [1]. High prevalence of malnutrition and presence of chronic illness in our study population could have influenced vitamin D level, and we therefore agree with their suggestion to include matched control to assess the baseline prevalence of vitamin D deficiency. We considered this thought during the process of study design, but from ethical standpoint, it was difficult to draw blood samples for vitamin D level alone in apparently healthy children.

We observed a trend towards lower mortality, shorter duration of PICU stay, and lesser requirement and duration of mechanical ventilation in vitamin D-deficient children compared to that of non-vitamin D deficient. However, none of these associations reached statistical significance. Therefore, we were unable to draw a firm conclusion on the association. We regret the printing error in the abstract.

Due to limited studies in children, and differences in the result on association of vitamin D level with clinical outcomes from various studies, we agree with the authors’ concluding remark on being cautious on interpretation of the result of studies. We certainly need trials to determine if vitamin D supplementation is beneficial in critically ill children.