A United Kingdom study by researchers from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Foundation Trust and the University of East Anglia has found that there is a correlation between low levels of vitamin D and mortality rates in COVID-19 patients in some European countries.
The researchers looked at vitamin D levels of people living in 20 European countries and correlated them with the rates of death from COVID-19 in those countries. They state: “Vitamin D levels are severely low in the aging population especially in Spain, Italy and Switzerland. This is also the most vulnerable group of population for COVID-19.”
A preliminary report has been published here:
https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-21211/v1
Here is the abstract of the paper:
Background/Aims: WHO declared SARS-Cov-2 a global pandemic. The aims of this paper are to assess if there is any association between mean levels of vitamin D in various countries and cases respectively mortality caused by COVID-19.
Methods: We have identified the mean levels of vitamin D for 20 Europeans Countries for which we have also got the data regarding the morbidity and mortality caused by COVID-19.
Results: The mean level of vitamin D (average 56mmol/L, STDEV 10.61) in each country was strongly associated with the number of cases/1M (mean 295.95, STDEV 298.73 p=0.004, respectively with the mortality/1M (mean 5.96, STDEV 15.13, p < 0.00001).
Discussion: Vitamin D levels are severely low in the aging population especially in Spain, Italy and Switzerland. This is also the most vulnerable group of population for COVID-19.
Conclusions: We believe, that we can advise Vitamin D supplementation to protect against SARS-CoV2 infection.