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United States Doctor worries bone disease rickets is making NZ comeback
Multimedia Journalist·NZ Herald·
31 Jan, 2025 04:00 PM4 mins to read
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The painful bone disorder rickets appears to be making a resurgence among infants and children in New Zealand, and there are worries cases are going unreported.
- Rickets is a rare and painful bone-growth disease caused by a lack of calcium, phosphorous or vitamin D.
- A paediatrician tracking national rates says it appears to be making a resurgence among very young children in NZ.
- He says clinicians need to be aware of the risk, amid concern families aren’t being recommended vitamin D supplements.
Professor Ben Wheeler says rickets should be a quirk of a bygone era: a disease belonging in a Charles Dickens novel more than a New Zealand paediatric clinic in 2025.
Yet the painful bone growth disorder appears to be making a mysterious resurgence among infants and young children
