Vitamin D3 Oral: Prevention, Treatment, and Precautions
Vitamin D3 guidance for prevention and treatment of vitamin D deficiency, with neonatal, child, adult, and pregnancy dosing.
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Source reviewed
source date listed on the source page
Guide category
Oral drugs
Safety boundary
Prescription medicine information for clinician-guided use.
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Therapeutic action
Vitamin necessary for the intestinal absorption of calcium and phosphate and for normal bone calcification.
Indications
Prevention and treatment of vitamin D deficiencies such as rickets and osteomalacia.
Forms and strengths
- 10 000 IU/ml oral solution in 10 ml vial.
- 50 000 IU/ml oral solution in 2 ml ampoule (100 000 IU).
Dose and duration
Colecalciferol and ergocalciferol are used at the same doses.
Do not exceed 600 000 IU yearly.
Prevention of vitamin D deficiencies
- Term neonate: 400 to 800 IU once daily until 6 months of age.
- Term neonate in contexts of high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency: 600 to 1200 IU once daily until 6 months of age.
- Pregnant woman: 100 000 IU single dose, one 2 ml ampoule, in the 6th or 7th month of pregnancy.
- Child < 12 months: 400 IU once daily.
- Child >= 12 months and adult: 600 IU once daily.
Treatment of vitamin D deficiencies
- Child < 3 months: 2 000 IU once daily for 3 months.
- Child from 3 to < 12 months: 2 000 IU once daily for 3 months or 50 000 IU single dose.
- Child from 12 months to < 12 years: 3 000 to 6 000 IU once daily for 3 months or 150 000 IU single dose.
- Child >= 12 years and adult: 6 000 IU once daily for 3 months or 300 000 IU single dose.
- Then continue with preventive dose as long as the situation requires.
Contra-indications, adverse effects, precautions
- Do not administer to patients with hypercalcaemia, hypercalciuria, calcic lithiasis, or severe renal impairment.
- Stop treatment if signs of overdosage occur such as headache, anorexia, nausea, vomiting, increased thirst, or polyuria.
- Avoid combination with thiazide diuretics such as hydrochlorothiazide because urinary calcium excretion decreases.
- Monitor calcaemia and calciuria during curative treatment if possible.
- Pregnancy: no contra-indication.
- Breast-feeding: no contra-indication. When curative treatment is being administered to the mother, do not give vitamin D to the child.
Source
MSF Essential drugs practical guidelines (January 2026)
This page combines source-derived medicine reference sections with Kenza editorial context, while leaving out the Storage and Remarks sections from the source batch.
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