Researchers of Israel have found that low levels of Vitamin D in the blood are associated with an increased risk of coronavirus infection.
Vitamin D is a hormone, produced in the skin during exposure to sunlight, and helps regulate the amount of calcium and phosphate in the body, which are needed to keep bones, teeth and muscles healthy.
“We wanted to evaluate associations of low plasma vitamin D level with the likelihood of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infection and hospitalisation using real-world data,” the study authors wrote. The study has been published in the journal FEBS.
For the study, the researchers examined data of 7,807 people who recently underwent a test for COVID-19 as well as a vitamin D blood test.
The findings showed that low levels of vitamin D in the blood was identified as independently associated with the likelihood of Covid-19 infection.
According to the study, of 7,807 individuals, 782 (10.1 per cent) were Covid-19 positive and 7,025 (89.9 per cent) were negative.
The researchers found that the mean plasma vitamin D level was significantly lower among those who tested positive than negative for Covid-19.
During the research, the team also revealed that coronavirus positive participants were younger and more likely to be males.
“In analyses, age over 50 years, male gender and low-medium socioeconomic status were also positively associated with the risk of COVID-19 infection; age over 50 years was positively associated with the likelihood of hospitalisation due to coronavirus,” the authors wrote.
“Univariate analysis demonstrated an association between low plasma level and increased likelihood of COVID-19 infection and of hospitalization due to the SARS-CoV-2 virus,” they noted.
Earlier in May, another study stressed that there is currently insufficient scientific evidence to show vitamin D supplements can be beneficial in preventing or treating COVID-19.
