Clipped from Email
On reviewing a simple intervention in a nursing home on my patients I had a second look into the situation on a ward that was otherwise devastated. I had to make sure this is true since I had a hard time believing it myself.
On a ward with 67 patients that would normally have 74 residents COVID 19 struck and at the end of it 28 patients died or 42%
I had 13 of these patients and along with the COVID protocol used in all patients who became sick I also gave them 10,000IU of vitamin D daily for a week and then resumed the usual dose of 2000IU daily.
Only 2 died or a 15 % death rate! My population was similar to others on the ward and I fully expected 2 males who have morbid obesity/comorbidities to succumb but they did not. Is this statistically significant…. I’m not sure but this is quite a surprising difference. The only intervention aside from usual COVID care was the vitamin D. All my patients normally get 2000IU daily in the nursing home after a study reported that 94% of residents have adequate levels of vitamin D after a few months. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20440692/ ( 5 months - PDF from sci-hub)
Vitamin D deficiency is common especially in nursing homes and in the winter in the general population in northern latitudes. Levels required for proper immune function are considerably higher (25(OH)D about 100-150nmol/l) Our bones do ok on much less,
This simple intervention for a modifiable risk factor is safe , cheap, and effective when used right at the onset of disease. Timing is everything. Once the cytokine storm is well under way it is difficult to reverse.
Gerry Schwalfenberg MD, CCFP FCFP
Assistant Clinical Professor in Family Medicine, University of Alberta, Canada
- - - - - -
Follow-on email #1: Not allowed to get Vitamin D tests (Canada, etc)
We are unable to do tests on vitamin D, our public system only allows testing where we suspect metabolic bone disease
Follow-on email #2: unable to prescribe what was needed
All residents under my care are on 2000iu daily achieving good levels as in our study a few years ago after a few months, using the hammer as I wrote about would have been preferable however pharmacy was resistant/reluctant to use this but complied with this request Started on 10,000 the day of positive COVID test or the next day ....
Many vitamin D articles and videos by Schwalfenberg in Canada such as
- Influenza prevented by 40 ng levels or treated with vitamin D hammer (50,000 IU) – June 2015
- Optimal level of vitamin D is 40 ng, 93 percent of Canadians do not have optimal levels – Oct 2017
- Sun is needed, but as with ice cream, getting too much can cause problems – Aug 2015
Items in both categories Virus and Mortality are listed here:
- After COVID vaccination elderly 3.8 X more likely to live a year longer if higher Vitamin D - April 2025
- 15.3 X fewer COVID deaths in those getting Vitamin D injections in ICU – RCT July 2024
- COVID and Vitamin D: 2X more likely to die if low, 2X more likely to survive if supplement – umbrella meta-analysis April 2024
- Moderna report: their COVID vax caused "only" 17,751 deaths - April 2024
- COVID infection (without hospitalization) – 1.7X more likely to die in 6 months if low Vitamin D – March 2024
- Vaccines increased your risk of dying of COVID in NZ - official data - Feb 2024
- 3X increase in unspecified causes of Death (Canada 2019-2022) - Dec 2023
- Deaths after vaccination - also reported in Japan - Dec 2023
- Excess deaths after COVID vaccination - 17 countries - Sept 2023
- Excess Deaths in Australia jumped up in 2022– preprint Feb 2023
- Prevent a COVID death: 9 dollars of Vitamin D or 900,000 dollars of vaccine - Aug 2023
- Number needed to vaccinate to prevent 1 Omicron death: 30,000 for age 60-70 - Sept 2022
- COVID survival in Europe in 2020 best predicted by population-level Vitamin D (of 13 variables) – July 2022
- Elderly who had been in COVID ICU were 4X more likely to die if low vitamin D – Nov 2022
- More COVID mortality if less than 20 ng of Vitamin D (Mexico) – May 2022
- 15,000,000 excess deaths in 2 years - May 2022
- COVID death 5.2X more likely if Vitamin D deficient – May 2022
- 29 X more likely to die of COVID if less than 20 ng of Vitamin D - March 2022
- Giving Vitamin D reduced COVID Mortality– Review of 11 studies – March 2022
- 18 million excess global deaths in past 2 years: COVID plus collateral damage - Lancet March 2022
- COVID severity and death more likely if low vitamin D (Egypt this time) - March 2022
- US nursing homes are epicenters for COVID deaths (200,000) - Feb 2022
- Ivermectin taken before COVID decreased death rate by 68 percent (3,000 with Ivermectin vs 3,000 without) - Dec 24, 2021
- Increase in non-COVID deaths (ages 18-64) in Indiana, India, etc. - Jan 5, 2022
- Only 35,000 died in US of COVID who previously had been healthy
- COVID-19 mortality extrapolates to zero at 50 ng of vitamin D – 18th Meta-analysis Sept 2021
- COVID-19 patients getting 300,000 IU of Vitamin D were 5X less likely to die – Sept 2021
- Predict 2X more likely to die of COVID-19 if vitamin D Deficient (Iran 2020) – Sept 2021
- COVID-19 mortality not associated with Vitamin D (everyone had very low levels) -Sept 2021
- COVID-19 mortality for Blacks is 5X that for whites in 2 LA Hospitals - July 2021
- COVID-19 mortality was associated with vitamin D deficiency of 47 countries – July 2021
- Similar death rate for Vaccination and COVID-19 study and video – June 24, 2021
- COVID-19 death in hospital 5X more likely if low vs high vitamin D – preprint June 2021
- COVID-19 deaths 1.7X more likely if low vitamin D (even after “adjusting” for low D health problems) – May 2021
- COVID-19 deaths 1.5X less likely if more than 40 ng of vitamin D – US VA – April 2021
- Vitamin D supplementation and high levels reduce COVID-19 deaths in elderly – Review April 17, 2021
- Less COVID-19 infection, mortality in countries with higher Vitamin D (Asia in this case) – May 2021
- COVID-19 was the third-leading cause of death in the US, especially in those with dark skins - April 1, 2021
- Risk of COVID-19 death was 4.9 X higher if very low vitamin D – March 31, 2021
- COVID-19 mortality 2X higher if low Vitamin D (Mexican hospital, preprint) - March 2021
- All COVID-19 patients had low vitamin D, the lowest were more likely to die – Feb 18, 2021
- 2.7 fewer COVID-19 hospital deaths in those having more than 30 ng of vitamin D – Mayo Jan 9, 2021
- Worse COVID-19 patients got 400,000 IU of vitamin D, deaths cut in half – Jan 14, 2021
- Iranians with COVID-19 were 2.3 X more likely to die if low vitamin D – Jan 2021
- Poor COVID-19 prognosis was 6 X more likely if low vitamin D – Jan 21, 2021
- Less than 10 dollars of Vitamin D per COVID-19 life saved in Myanmar - Jan 2021
- 2.8 X fewer COVID-19 nursing home deaths if add 10,000 IU Vitamin D daily for a week (small observation)- Jan 2021
- Italian nursing home COVID-19 – 4X less likely to die if taking Vitamin D– Dec 22, 2020
- Shift workers 2X more likely to get COVID-19 (low Vitamin D) - Dec 2020
- Those getting high dose vitamin D were 7 X less likely to die of COVID-19 - Dec 11, 2020
COVID-19 treated by Vitamin D - studies, reports, videos
As of March 31, 2024, the VitaminDWiki COVID page had: trial results, meta-analyses and reviews, Mortality studies see related: Governments, HealthProblems, Hospitals, Dark Skins, All 26 COVID risk factors are associated with low Vit D, Fight COVID-19 with 50K Vit D weekly Vaccines Take lots of Vitamin D at first signs of COVID 166 COVID Clinical Trials using Vitamin D (Aug 2023) Prevent a COVID death: 9 dollars of Vitamin D or 900,000 dollars of vaccine - Aug 2023
5 most-recently changed Virus entries
Note: >70% of the Trials using Vitamin D to fight COVID-19 are using at least 100,000 IU during the first week