There is no clinical evidence to prove that low levels of vitamin D lead to severe Covid-19 symptoms, but there is a definite connection between “sun vitamin” and immune responses to the disease, experts say, as the pandemic spreads. around the world and concerns are mounting about a new mutant strain.
Emphasizing that vitamin D is inexpensive and has an insignificant risk when compared to Covid-19’s considerable risk, global researchers on the disease have asked governments to include it in their strategy against the new coronavirus.
Many factors such as age, being male and comorbidities are known to predispose individuals to a higher risk of exposure to SARS-CoV-2, but inadequate vitamin D is by far the easiest and most rapidly modifiable risk factor with abundant evidence to support a great benefit effect, said Professor Afrozul Haq, former dean of the School of Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (SIST) at Jamia Hamdard University in New Delhi.
He is one of 170 experts who earlier this month wrote an open letter on the subject.
Calling for an immediate and widespread increase in vitamin D intake, the letter published on the website vitamindforall.org states that “research shows that low levels of vitamin D almost certainly promote Covid-19 infections, hospitalizations and deaths”.
“This campaign group of vitamin D and Covid-19 researchers, including me, started the process of writing this letter with the aim of raising awareness of the benefits of vitamin D supplementation in patients infected with Covid-19 and sending this letter to all health professionals, ministries, health workers, government agencies and NGOs, ”Haq told PTI. According to the letter, which had 171 signatories on Wednesday, the evidence suggests the possibility that the Covid-19 pandemic may be sustained largely by the infection of people with low vitamin D content and deaths are mainly concentrated in people with disabilities.
“The mere possibility that this is the case should compel the urgent collection of more vitamin D data. Even without more data, the preponderance of evidence indicates that the increase in vitamin D would help to reduce infections, hospitalizations, ICU admissions and deaths”, said.
As the debate on the subject grew, immunologist Vineeta Bal added a note of skepticism, noting that most experts are based in developed countries where daily vitamin D supplementation can be feasible, practical and affordable.
“But that is not the case in India. Vitamin D deficiency is extremely common in India. Regular supplementation is not part of the standard recommendations, not even for pregnant women, ”Bal, a visiting professor at the Indian Institute of Education and Scientific Research in Pune, told PTI.
“If individuals are very deficient, supplementation, as recommended in the letter, will likely take weeks or months to reach desirable levels of vitamin D in the serum,” she said.
The scientist added that the measure cannot be considered an emergency measure, when the country lacks manpower and facilities even for the vaccination program. In his opinion, vitamin D supplementation should be a long-term, non-emergency measure and something that can also be useful in the Covid-19 scenario.
“Not only vitamin D, other vitamins and micronutrients like zinc have also shown beneficial effects,” she explained.
According to Prof Srijit Mishra, another signatory of the letter, the recommendation is the intake of vitamin D for adults of up to 4,000 international units (IU) or 100 micrograms (mcg) per day. Those most at risk of disability due to being overweight, dark skinned or living in nursing homes may need a higher intake.
“Current evidence suggests that serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels above 30 nanograms per milliliter (ng / ml), a test to measure vitamin D level, is a widely approved minimum to reduce the risk of Covid-19,” Mishra, of the Mumbai Indira Gandhi Institute for Research for Development (IGIDR), told PTI.
Bal said that vitamin D is generally known to have many beneficial contributions to immune responses and added: “There are no reports, as far as I know, of radical improvements brought about by vitamin D supplementation in normal individuals.” In his view, vitamin D may have an additional role to play along with other drugs, but not a major role. The link between vitamin D and better immunological competence exists based on experimental data, and data on patients is almost invariably associative and does not prove a cause and effect relationship, she said.
Although no clinical trial has tested the effectiveness of vitamin D as a treatment or preventive measure, several studies have found an association between low vitamin D levels and Covid-19.
However, a review of five of these studies by the National Institute for Excellence in Health and Care (NICE) in the United Kingdom concludes that the studies provide no evidence that vitamin D levels influence the risk of contracting Covid-19 or dying as a result .
“There is no evidence to support taking vitamin D supplements to specifically prevent or treat Covid-19,” wrote the study authors.
Mishra also noted that the evidence so far about Covid-19 risk factors with low vitamin D is associative, with some studies pointing out that low levels of the vitamin have a higher risk of infection and positive rates.
He said a communication from the UK-based NNEdPro Global Center for Nutrition and Health presented a 10-point summary of diet, nutrition and the role of micronutrients in combating Covid-19.
“The note identifies the relevance of several micronutrients, including vitamin D. However, as the NNEdPro article clearly points out, this advice on nutritional adequacy should not be constituted as a substitute for important medical and public health advice on prevention ”, Mishra said.
(This story was published from a wire agency feed with no text changes.)
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