Effectiveness of Tests and Treatments to Detect and Treat Vitamin D Deficiency to Prevent COVID-19

The researchers determined the effect of vitamin D status on the prevention of acute respiratory infections of all causes and SARS-CoV-2 infection.
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In a study recently published on the preprint server medRxiv*, researchers identified the role of vitamin D status in the prevention of acute respiratory infections (ARI) of all causes and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2 ) infection.

background

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has brought renewed attention to ARI prevention methods. Vaccination against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is the gold standard against SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, its global effectiveness is hindered by a number of issues such as vaccine reluctance, cost, vaccine failure and availability. Therefore, inexpensive alternative therapies are needed to enhance immune responses against SARS-CoV-2 and other ARI-causing pathogens.

Vitamin D metabolites support natural immunity against CoVs that cause SARS-CoV-2 and similar respiratory pathogens. Existing longitudinal analyses provide mixed results on the role of vitamin D in COVID-19 prevention. Several meta-analyses have reported the general protective mechanism of vitamin D against SARS-CoV-2. Still, there are no randomized controlled trials (RCTs) examining the effect of vitamin D on preventing COVID-19.

About research

In the current practical phase 3 RCT, known as CORONAVIT, researchers evaluated the effectiveness of testing and tearing strategies to detect and treat vitamin D deficiency to prevent SARS-CoV-2 and other ARIs. The study was conducted in people aged 16+ in the United Kingdom (UK) between December 2020 and June 2021. The trial period corresponds to a period of high SARS-CoV-2 incidence and low immunization coverage in the UK. This study was embedded in the COVIDENCE UK population-based cohort survey, in which a study from the cohort strategy was applied.

Study exclusion criteria were ongoing vitamin D supplementation, known pregnancy, renal failure requiring dialysis, known diagnosis of sarcoidosis, kidney stones, allergy to chemicals in the test capsules, and primary hyperparathyroidism. Subjects were registered and followed up using an online questionnaire.

The researchers randomly provided 6,200 people with mail-in ratings of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D). Subsequently, 1550 subjects were provided with low-dose vitamin D (800 IU/d) supplementation for 6 months, 1550 subjects or 3100 subjects were provided with high-dose vitamin D (3200 IU/d), but no Offer supplements or tests.

Follow-up surveys collected information on acute respiratory infections, asthma attacks, chronic SARS events