RESEARCH ARTICLE


Vitamin D and COVID-19 Infection



Josef Richter1, 2, Vaclav Vetvicka1, *, Vlastimil Král3, Stanislava Richterová3
1 Zdravotní ústav se sídlem v Ústí nad Labem, Czech Republic
2 Department of Pathology, University of Louisville, KY 40292, Lovisville, USA
3 Vojenská zdravotní pojišťovna Ústí nad Labem, Czech Republic


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Creative Commons License
© 2023 Richter et al.

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

* Address correspondence to this author at the Zdravotní ústav se sídlem v Ústí nad Labem Czech Republic; E-mail: vaclav.vetvicka@louisville.edu


Abstract

Objective:

The COVID-19 epidemic resulted in a global crisis of public health. Therefore, the possibility of prevention, leading to reduced infection and/or an improved disease state, is the subject of intensive attention. The novelty of this study is the direct evaluation of vitamin D levels with the risk of COVID-19 infection.

Background:

Currently, several nutraceuticals, including vitamin D, beta-glucan, and some minerals, are being studied for their role in stimulating immunity. Our study focused on the relationship between levels of vitamin D in immunodeficient patients and the risk of the development of COVID-19.

Method:

In this study, patients were supplemented with vitamin D.

Results:

In a group of 71 patients, we found that patients with vitamin D levels below 30 ng/ml had an increased risk of COVID-19 development and more severe disease progress. In patients with blood levels over 40 ng/ml, we consistently found high levels of protection against COVID-19 infection.

Conclusion:

The most important finding is that vitamin D levels above 40 ng/ml result in the reduction of risks of serious clinical manifestation of COVID-19 infection.

Keywords: COVID-19, Vitamin D, Immunity, Supplementation, Disease, Clinical manifestation.