Vitamin D deficiency may increase the risk of COVID-19

Israeli researchers have found a possible link between vitamin D deficiency and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Their study entitled “Association of Vitamin D Deficiency with COVID-19 in a Large Population” was published before publication. medRxiv* server.

What was this study about?

With over 27.4 million cases reported worldwide, the pandemic of COVID-19 caused by the new coronavirus is widespread. To date, more than 896,000 people have been killed. The disease is especially dangerous for aging and vulnerable people.

Israel escaped

There are several recent studies linking vitamin D deficiency with COVID-19 infections and severe illness due to infections. Studies show that countries with high incidence of vitamin D deficiency also have a high prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infections. Israeli researchers who conducted the study wrote that the general population of Israel “has been relatively avoided by pandemics so far”, with an equally 0.88 percent prevalence among men and women.

men and women

However, they said the infection rate was higher in the Jewish ultra-Orthodox population (3.03%) and 1.4% higher in the Arab community. They write that the ratio of men to women in these communities varies. In the Arab community, women were far more affected than men (1:1.5 – men: women). In ultra-Orthodox, men were more affected (1.25:1 – Men: Women)

Explaining these gender differences, the team writes that the lifestyle and clothing of these communities can tolerate differences in vitamin D levels between men and women. They wrote that there was a study showing that severe vitamin D deficiency is endemic and common in Arab women. This could be a clue to the high risk of getting COVID-19, the team wrote.

Distribution of blood vitamin D levels measured between 2010 and 2020 in three subpopulations of men (top panel) and women (bottom panel)

what did you do?

Clalit Health Services (CHS) provides health services to over 4.6 million participants whose Electronic Health Records (EHR) are meticulously maintained. The study was conducted to confirm the “relationship between vitamin D levels and the incidence of Covid-19, and the effect of purchasing vitamin D supplements on the risk of COVID-19,” the team explained.

Vitamin D test results were collected from CHS members conducted between 2010 and 2019. The relationship between vitamin D deficiency and Covid-19 incidence in 200 regions was evaluated. Over the last few years, a large number of men and women have undergone tests to check their vitamin D levels. The authors defined vitamin D deficiency as levels below 50 nmol / L and severe vitamin D deficiency as levels below 30 nmol / L. Their records have shown that vitamin D deficiency is more common among super-Orthodox and Arabs. Women in Alam were at particular risk of vitamin D deficiency. The results revealed that 81.5% of individuals tested were less than 50 nmol/L and 59.1% were less than 30 nmol/L.

Distribution of vitamin D measured in blood between 2010 and 2020 in individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2 patients and in the remaining population

From the onset of the pandemic to the 31st^st In August 2020, a total of 52,537 CHS members tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR. The team then matched 52,405 patients infected with COVID 19 with 524,050 control individuals of the same gender, age, and place of residence. Their vitamin D test was also used in the analysis. Over the past four months, Vitamin D use has also been evaluated for its potential to become infected with COVID-19.

What did you find?

The results revealed a significant association between the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and the incidence of COVID-19. This was important for the proportion of women and men with severe vitamin D deficiency, the team found. “In a matched cohort, there was a significant association between reduced vitamin D levels and the risk of Covid-19, with the highest risk of severe vitamin D deficiency observed.” They found, “We found a very significant positive correlation between the proportion of women with severe vitamin D deficiency and the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 across different groups.” I wrote.

People who have taken vitamin D supplements as eye drops in the last four months have been found to be protected from infection.

Conclusions and implications

The authors write: “…we identified what appears to be a strong and important link between low vitamin D levels and the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection.” They also described different communities. They found that the risk was highest among people living in areas with a high prevalence of deficiency. They further added that “north latitude was associated with increased mortality and hospitalization rates for COVID-19”. Vitamin D levels can also play a role in this association. They speculated that viruses like coronavirus could “break cell integrity at the cell junction” and help maintain vitamin D. They added that vitamin D helps to strengthen the innate cell-mediated immunity and thus can protect against infection.

The authors conclude that this is one of the most recent recent studies investigating the association between vitamin D deficiency and the occurrence of COVID-19. It has been shown that taking supplements can protect against infection and reduce the incidence among people living in the same geographical area.

*Important Notices

medRxiv It publishes preliminary, non-peer reviewed scientific reports and should not be considered conclusive and should not guide clinical practice/health-related behavior or be treated as established information.