Vitamin D Deficiency Could Increase Severity of COVID-19 Infection

Experts from Israel found a potential solution against the severity of illness and death caused by COVID-19. According to their findings, an increase in vitamin D could protect patients who tested positive for the condition.

The study was made through the collaborative efforts of Bar Ilan University and the Galilee Medical Center. The authors suggest that vitamin D levels are a strong factor and could serve as a reliable supplement against the severity of coronavirus disease. In addition, the levels and age of patients could also be utilized to predict their resistance from its inflictions.

Vitamin D Deficiency and Coronavirus Diseas

(Photo: Engin Akyurt from Pexels)

The lack of vitamin D, according to the paper, could put the entire health of a COVID-19 patient in danger. The statistics analyzed in the study were gathered from the first and second waves of the coronavirus in Israel, the same time when vaccines were not yet developed.

Before implementing direct solutions in every country, medical experts already emphasized that vitamin supplements could not suffice the efficacy needed to combat the coronavirus. However, taking the right dosage of certain vitamins could always maintain the strength of immunity.

Vitamin D deficiency is high in most parts of the Middle East. Among the countries that experience that lack the substance is Israel. According to a study published in the European Journal of Clinical Investigation, titled "Vitamin D deficiency prevalence and cardiovascular risk in Israel," found in five individuals in the country are low on the vitamin.

The latest investigation found that taking vitamin D supplements prior to a COVID-19 infection could let the patients avoid its most serious effects.

Galilee Medical Center and Bar Ilan expert Ameil Dror, who also authored the study, said in The Times of Israel report that their team found how the sufficiency and absence of vitamin D in patients could drive the severity of COVID-19. Although the study had data from pre-omicron surge, Dror said that the coronavirus variants did not shift in terms of negating vitamin D effectiveness.

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Vitamin D Boosts Immunity Against COVID-19

Dror said that vitamin D's efficacy indeed helps people reinforce the immune system against viral pathogens, which in COVID-19's case, specifically attacks the respiratory system. The expert said that a similar response to the vitamin levels could be observed in omicron and other variants.

Many countries have already recommended the supplementation of vitamin D for protection during the pandemic surge, but the solution lacked evidence to prove its efficacy until today.

Last June, the same authors presented the preliminary findings of the correlation between vitamin D and coronavirus severity. According to the paper published in the journal medRxiv, titled "Pre-infection 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 levels and association with severity of COVID-19 illness," 26 percent of coronavirus patients who lacked vitamin D before hospitalization is at risk of death, compared to the 3 percent that had standard vitamin D levels. Those with low or moderate coronavirus infection, who are also experiencing vitamin D deficiency, could have a severe or critical condition.

Dror and the team found that the comparison between the preliminary and current studies presents the same statistics over the link between vitamin D and the disease. According to the authors, boosting vitamin D levels during the pandemic is necessary in order to evade the severity that the COVID-19 illness poses. The study was published in the journal PLOS ONE, titled "Pre-infection 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 levels and association with severity of COVID-19 illness."