SARS-CoV-2 positivity rates associated with circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels
PLoS ONE 15(9): e0239252. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0239252
Download the PDF from VitaminDWiki
Higher rate if lower Vitamin D test
Graphic made from the data by www.vitaminDJournal.de
Higher rate of test positive if further from Equator
Higher rate of test positive if darker skin
Download the PDF from VitaminDWiki
Expression of Concern by editors of PLOS1
Download the PDF from VitaminDWiki
- Concerns were raised about the reported study’s sample size and whether it was adequate to address the aims of the study.
- Questions were raised about whether the statistical analyses and results were sufficiently robust to support the article’s conclusions, and about how potential confounds were addressed in the data analyses. As one aspect of this, it was raised that vitamin D levels may be indicative of co-morbidities that may themselves impact COVID outcomes.
- There are statements in the article, including in its title and conclusions, that suggest a causal relationship between vitamin D levels and the clinical outcome of COVID-19 infections which is not supported by the data.
- Of the participants in the study, only 31.06% had RT-PCR tests confirming a COVID-19 diagnosis. As such, the COVID-19 status of other participants is in question, although in the article all are reported as patients with COVID-19. This is not taken into consideration in the subgroup analyses as reported in the article, and calls into question the overall interpretation of the results.
- The article’s Competing Interests statement says, “The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.” However, publicly available information indicates that corresponding author MFH may have potential competing interests that include non-financial interests based on his vitamin D research and other activities focused on vitamin D; contributions to an app that tracks vitamin D; and interests that include consultancies, funding support, and authorship of books related to vitamin D usage.
- The authors commented that the article did not claim a causal role of vitamin D on clinical outcomes, and that the limitations of the study were clearly described in the Discussion which said, “we cannot explain the cause and effect relationship of vitamin D sufficiency and the reduced risk of severity from a COVID-19 infection.” [1] They also stated that COVID-19 diagnoses were made by infectious disease specialists per WHO interim guidance and recommendations of the Iranian National Committee of COVID-19 [2].
- PLOS ONE is currently reassessing the article and following up on the above issues in accordance with COPE guidance and journal policies. Meanwhile, the PLOS ONE Editors issue this Expression of Concern.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
190,000 in the US who got tested for vitamin D
then later got tested for COVID-19 by the same company
See also COVID-19 treated by Vitamin D - studies, reports, videos
Top Vitamin D and COVID-19 recent updates
- COVID-19 2.7 X more likely to be severe if less than 30 ng of vitamin D (China) – Jan 2021
- 2.7 fewer COVID-19 hospital deaths in those having more than 30 ng of vitamin D – Mayo Jan 9, 2021
- Vitamin D Help Us Fight Infections - interview of Dr. Thakkar (transcript) Jan 20, 2021
- COVID-19 onset strongly associated with latitude in Europe (Vitamin D)– Jan 21, 2021
- France: 73 experts and 6 academies recommend vitamin D to prevent COVID-19 Jan 19, 2021
- Elderly COVID-19 patients getting 400,000 IU of vitamin D had better survival (Italy, April)– Jan 14, 2021
- Vitamin D-COVID interview by Dr. Campbell of Davies (member of UK Parliament) - Jan 17, 2021
- Iranians with COVID-19 were 2.3 X more likely to die if low vitamin D – Jan 2021
- Many COVID-19 risks are associated with low vitamin D (7 studies) – Systematic Review Jan 2021
- 40 ng of Vitamin D to fight COVID 15K to 50K weekly or 100K monthly - Spanish Jan 2021
- Poor COVID-19 prognosis was 6 X more likely if low vitamin D – Jan 21, 2021
- Unraveling the roles of vitamin D status and melanin during COVID-19 (Review) Jan 11
- 30 x fewer COVID-19 deaths in those getting 400,000 IU of Vitamin D - 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
- 3.7 X less likely to die of COVID-19 if supplemented with Vitamin D - meta-analysis Jan 5, 2021
- COVID-19 test positive 4.5 X more likely if had low vitamin D test within 4 years – Jan 6, 2021
- Don’t Let COVID-19 Patients Die With Vitamin D Deficiency - Jan 5, 2021
- Less likely to test positive for COVID-19 if higher Vitamin D – meta-analysis Jan 6, 2021
- Vitamin D reduces COVID-19 by 80 percent - anonymous meta-analysis - Jan 5, 2021
- COVID 19 Video - Drs. Seheult and Campbell : Lessons Learned and a Look Ahead - Jan 4
- Many drugs increase ACE2 and COVID-19 (176 page review) - Dec 2020
- Italian nursing home COVID-19 – 4X less likely to die if taking Vitamin D– Dec 22, 2020
- Take 50,000 IU of Vitamin D weekly before and after COVID-19 vaccination by VItaminDWiki
- COVID-19 lung infection upsets Vitamin D genes (so more or different form of Vit D is required) - Dec 22, 2020
- COVID-19 Disease and Vitamin D: A Mini-Review – Dec 15, 2020
- French Consensus – 200,000 IU of Vitamin D if get COVID-19 – Dec 22, 2020
- Rational approach to COVID-19: 50k-100k of Vitamin D weekly – Dec 2020
- Shift workers 2X more likely to get COVID-19 (low Vitamin D) - Dec 2020
- COVID-19 plus pneumonia in ICU with low vitamin D equaled Death - Dec 2020
- Excellent on-going analysis of Vitamin D and COVID-19 publications
- 7X less likely to die of COVID-19 if taking Vitamin D loading dose – Dec 11, 2020
- COVID-19 patients with low vitamin D had far fewer natural killer cells – Dec 2020
- COVID-19 Vitamin D: Overview of Evidence by Dr. Seheult (Video and transcript) - Dec 10, 2020
- 75 articles indicate that Vitamin D should fight COVID-19 – Evidence Review Dec 10, 2020
- COVID-19 Vitamin D: Overview by Dr. in Sri Lanka (Video and transcript) - Dec 8, 2020
- Vitamin D recommended to fight COVID-19 by 2 groups – Dec 7, 2020
- Vitamin D helps athletes while reducing their COVID-19 risk - Dec 4, 2020
- 5X more likely to test positive for COVID-19 if low vitamin D in previous 5 years (900,000 people) - Dec 4, 2020
- 5.8 X more likely to die of COVID-19 if low vitamin D - Systematic Review Dec 3, 2020
- Evidence of Vitamin D fighting COVID-19 etc. - take 4,000 IU if less than 20 ng (UK) – Dec 1, 2020
- 3.8 X higher risk of COVID-19 death if low vitamin D – Belgium Nov 25, 2020
- Hyperglycemic 2X more likely to have severe COVID-19 - Nov 2020 Diabetes
- COVID-19 protocol proposed in India includes Vitamin D - Nov 12, 2020
- A Medical School COVID-19 protocol includes Vitamin D for all phases – Marik Nov 2020
- Vitamin D has eliminated ICU COVID-19 in hospital in Dubai since June - Sept 26, 2020
- COVID-19 and Vitamin D: Health Authorities do not understand risk-reward – Nov 2020
- c19study.com/d has excellent synopsis of Vitamin D and COVID studies
-
click to see 3 weeks in Nov 2020
-
- COVID-19 – Putative Roles of Vitamin D – Nov 2020
- Fight COVID-19 without drugs or vaccines, Vitamin D is the single most-studied way – Nov 2020
- Hospital COVID-19 observation: 7X more likely to live if more than 20 ng of vitamin D– Nov 19, 2020
- Higher vitamin D associated with fewer cases and deaths in India Nov 2020
- COVID-19 defeated 3x faster by 420,000 IU Vitamin D nanoemulsion – RCT Nov 12, 2020
- 2X fewer COVID-19 deaths observed if infrequent vitamin D (2X more deaths if daily dose) – ClinicalTrial Oct 20, 2020
- Vitamin D and COVID-19 - observational studies found it helps, never hurts - Campbell Oct 31, 2020
- COVID-19 patients who happened to be taking Vitamin D did much better – Oct 27,2020
- 9X COVID-19 survival in nursing home if had 80,000 IU dose of vitamin D in previous month – Oct 2020
- Virtually no COVID-19 cases in countries having more than 30 ng of Vitamin D - Sept 17, 2020
- Rate of COVID-19 test positive is 40 pcnt lower if high vitamin D (192,000 people) - Holick Sept 2020
Download the PDF from VitaminDWiki
Harvey W. Kaufman1, Justin K. Niles1, Martin H. Kroll1, Caixia Bi1, Michael F. Holick nD2 mfholick at bu.edu
1 Medical Informatics, Quest Diagnostics, Secaucus, NewJersey, United States of America,
2 Department of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Until treatment and vaccine for coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) becomes widely available, other methods of reducing infection rates should be explored. This study used a retrospective, observational analysis of deidentified tests performed at a national clinical laboratory to determine if circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) levels are associated with severe acute respiratory disease coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) positivity rates. Over 190,000 patients from all 50 states with SARS-CoV-2 results performed mid-March through mid-June, 2020 and matching 25(OH)D results from the preceding 12 months were included. Residential zip code data was required to match with US Census data and perform analyses of race/ethnicity proportions and latitude.
A total of 191,779 patients were included (median age, 54years [interquartile range 40.4-64.7]; 68% female. The SARS-CoV-2 positivity rate was 9.3% (95% C.I. 9.2-9.5%) and the mean seasonally adjusted 25(OH)D was 31.7 (SD 11.7). The SARS-CoV-2 positivity rate was higher in the 39,190 patients with “deficient”25(OH)D values (<20 ng/mL) (12.5%, 95% C.I. 12.2-12.8%) than in the 27,870 patients with “adequate” values (30-34 ng/mL) (8.1%, 95% C.I. 7.8-8.4%) and the 12,321 patients with values >55 ng/mL (5.9%, 95% C.I. 5.5-6.4%). The association between 25 (OH)D levels and SARS-CoV-2 positivity was best fitted by the weighted second-order polynomial regression, which indicated strong correlation in the total population (R2 = 0.96) and in analyses stratified by all studied demographic factors. The association between lower SARS-CoV-2 positivity rates and higher circulating 25(OH)D levels remained significant in a multivariable logistic model adjusting for all included demographic factors (adjusted odds ratio 0.984 per ng/mL increment, 95% C.I. 0.983-0.986; p<0.001). SARS-CoV-2 positivity is strongly and inversely associated with circulating 25(OH)D levels, a relationship that persists across latitudes, races/ethnicities, both sexes, and age ranges. Our findings provide impetus to explore the role of vitamin D supplementation in reducing the risk for SARS-CoV- 2 infection and COVID-19 disease.