Severe vitamin D deficiency presenting as hypocalcaemic seizures in a black infant at 45.5 degrees south: a case report

Abstract

A 5 month old black infant presented to the Emergency Department in the spring with generalised seizures. He was found to have severe vitamin D deficiency and hypocalcaemia. The baby had been born healthy in the autumn at 45.5 degrees south to parents of African extraction, had been fully breast-fed since birth and had spent some time in day care over the winter months. His mother was a professional working woman who had not taken any vitamin or nutritional supplements during pregnancy or lactation.