High incidence of rickets in children with wheezy bronchitis in a developing country.

The incidence of rickets in 100 Iraqi infants with wheezy bronchitis (24%) exceeded by two and a half times that found in age-matched controls (9%), and by ten times when only those with severe rickets were considered. The reason for this is not entirely clear, but could be related to the fact that the infants with wheezy bronchitis weighed more and therefore had grown faster than the control group. This itself could be related to the higher incidence of breastfeeding in the infants with wheezy bronchitis. We wish to stress the importance of screening for rickets, particularly in those with wheezy bronchitis.