Septicemia -- a serious disorder also called blood poisoning -- is a systemic inflammatory response to pathogenic organisms in the blood or tissues. It is a relatively common, and often deadly disease.

In the U.S., the highest rates of septicemia occur in the winter and in the Northeast, the areas and times that receive the least sunlight. This could mean that the disease is related to vitamin D deficiency, as vitamin D is produced in your body when sunlight hits your skin. In fact, the epidemiological features of septicemia, including seasonality, racial disparity and advanced rate with age, are all similar to the epidemiology of vitamin D deficiency.

It is very possible that the two disorders are related. The hypothesis that higher levels of vitamin D could reduce the incidence and improve the prognosis of septicemia should be tested without delay.