Vitamin D may protect against Ebola

Created October 2014

Vitamin D is a great way to quickly strengthen an immune system

Vitamin D fights many enveloped viruses like Ebola

Only a strong immune system allows people to survive Ebola

A vitamin D strengthened immune systems should:

      Increase how many will never get an Ebola symptom

      Decrease how many will die of Ebola

Vitamin D has not (yet) been proven to fight Ebola - that is what we intend to do

Rain is one of the many reasons for low D and low immunity in West Africa

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400,000 IU of vitamin D to every person - taken as a single dose

~~#F00:Red line ~~shows how quickly vitamin D levels are boosted

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400,000 IU ($1.20) per person,     < $36 of vitamin D to save a life

$1.20 for 400,000 IU: assuming 50,000 IU capsule costs ~ 15 cents

IF we assume that the death rate in a household having Ebola is 10%

    and IF we assume that vitamin D reduces the death rate by only 30%

THEN will need 30 doses to save a life!

Thus: $36 of vitamin D will save a life (30 X $1.20)

    Costs per dose and per life will be lower with future 400,000 IU capsules

There has been 1 suspected vitamin D death in the last decade in the entire world

There could be 1,000 Ebola deaths if wait for "proof" from a trial.

Doctors and researchers contacted uniformly said vitamin D might help and it certainly would not hurt.

Large Scale distribution of Vitamin D

Give 400,000 IU of vitamin D 12,000 people per week (1,000 bottles of 50,000 IU Vitamin D)

VIA such channels as

  • Contact workers - where the household already has/had an Ebola infection

  • Home Care Kit distribution

  • Churches (which provides the best vocal instruction - essential for a population with low literacy)

  1. People living with Ebola infectious person (the only group in phase 1)

  2. People still in house where an Ebola person had lived

  3. Health care workers with high infection rates

  4. Ambulance and/or burial crews

  5. Others with known contact with an Ebola-infectious person

  6. Those having symptoms which are suspected to be Ebola - both inside and outside of clinics

  7. Those in contact with the West African public (employees in stores, restaurants, taxis, airport, buses, , , , )

  8. Military: Local, US, UK, etc.

  9. Persons leaving West Africa - to reduce possibility of spreading Ebola.

  10. Add maintenance dose of vitamin D - to have a strong immune system for more than 2 months - using perhaps 50,000 IU every two weeks)

  11. Try increased or decreased Vitamin D loading dose for average adult

  12. Try increased Vitamin D loading dose for those at high risk of being vitamin D deficient: pregnant, elderly, obese, etc.

    • This increased dosing might be done in Phase 1

  13. Try additional immune system boosters such as: Red Marine Algae, Vitamin C - especially if there is an indication of fast response.

    Can ramp up the manufacturing to 120,000 per week fairly quickly

    The limitation is that the doses should be individually packaged by either

  14. Putting eight small 50,000 IU capsules in a small bag/bottle

  15. Manufacturing a large 400,000 IU capsule

    Note about children: 400,000 IU will raise the vitamin D levels of many children to > 100 ng/mL

While many researchers feel that it is desirable to not have the levels so high,

     it is far more desirable that the children do not die of Ebola.

It is difficult to:

  1. Distribute different dose sizes

  2. Communicate how many capsules each member of a family should take.

    • (Only about half of West Africa is literate)

Large doses are not necessarily a problem

East Germany gave 600,000 doses of vitamin D to ALL of its infants for 30 years - with no recorded problems

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Vitamin D fights MANY enveloped viruses similar to Ebola

Ebola a rare disease with extremely little research. No known research on Ebola and Vitamin D

There is, however, a lot of data of Vitamin D and prevention and/or treatment of other viruses:

H1N1, Herpes simplex, Cold sore, Shingles, Chickenpox, Influenza, Epstein-Barr, Hepatitis B, HIV Dengue

Yellow fever, Measles, Mumps, Smallpox, MERS (Middle East Respiratory. Syndrome), West Nile Virus

See also Virus in VitaminDWiki

Dr. Gerry Schwalfenberg email to a Vitamin D newsgroup

  • I have been thinking a lot about the Ebola crisis

  • My understanding is that the virus is an encapsulated virus ( enveloped ( covered ) RNA virus) and I wonder if it has the Protein associated molecular pattern (PAMP)that will trigger the vitamin D cascade that results in the transcription of antimicrobial peptides (AMP) using the innate immune system to kill the virus.

  • I have used 50,000IU for one or two days in H1N1 and had patients report back to me that they were completely well within 48 hours in all patients who did this.

  • I know of another physician who did the same with similar results.

  • What about using 100,000 IU of vitamin D daily for two days, early in the disease to aid our own natural defenses and possibly shut down the disease.

  • Vitamin D also reduces the over reaction of our immune system that often kills the patient

  • ANY THOUGHTS? Gerry       No known reply to his email

[Reduced viral respiratory tract infections by half by having more than 38 ng of vitamin D – June 2010](/pages/reduced-viral-respiratory-tract-infections-by-half-by-having-more-than-38-ng-of-vitamin-d/) which has the following chart image   {ANAME()}IS{ANAME} **Note: 400,000 IU of vitamin D will raise vitamin D levels of [most people to >40 ng](/pages/one-pill-every-two-weeks-gives-you-all-the-vitamin-d-most-adults-need/)**

See also Immune System in VitaminDWiki

Sierra Leone: only 13% of Ebola patients are isolated - Nov 19

WHO: Ebola transmission 'intense' in Sierra Leone Associated Press

The WHO reported Nov 19?    vs Guinea 72%

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Rain is one of the many reasons for low D and low immunity in West Africa

  1. Rainy Season (similar to winter) ==> people outdoors less ==> less vitamin D generated

  2. Poor sanitation in slums ==> vitamin D is consumed by inflammation, etc.

  3. Women want whiter skins ==> stay out of the sun ==> Reduce Vitamin D

  4. Pregnancy ==> often drops the vitamin D levels considerably

    •       Note: not a single pregnant woman has survived Ebola

  5. Fear of Ebola ==>Stress ==> consumes vitamin D

  6. Stresses of unemployment, friends dying ==> stressful ==> consumes vitamin D

  7. Working long hours (health care workers) ==> stress ==> lowers immune system

  8. |Soft drinks ==> reduce Calcium ==> lowers Vitamin D

  9. Smoking (Africa is a huge growing market) ==> reduces Calcium ==> consumes vitamin D

  10. Atmospheric pollution in cities==> reduced vitamin D generated

  11. Vitamin D levels have dropped in half in two decades

43 reasons for Vitamin D deficiency describes 34 reasons and has the following chart

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Ebola outbreak in Monrovia is closely associated with heavy rains ==> people not getting the sunshine vitamin

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This page was last updated: {lastmod}.

URL = WWW.VitaminDWiki.COM/EBOLA

Cremations (now required) may be the reason for reduced "reported" Liberian deaths

  • Ebola cremation ruling prompts secret burials in Liberia Guardian Oct 27
    • Treatment centres half-empty as families keep infected at home to avoid presidential decree that Ebola victims must be cremated
    • Cremation violates values and cultural practices in the western African country.
    • The order has so disturbed people that the sick are often kept at home and, if they die, are being secretly buried, increasing the risk of more infections.
    • President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf decreed in August that the bodies of Ebola victims in the Monrovia area be cremated.
    • there won’t be a place to honour deceased relatives. Nor are the relatives permitted to be at the cremation or get the ashes
    • Sierra Leone has not ordered cremations.Their Ebola treatment units are often full.

West Point slum in Liberia with huge Ebola outbreak is being quarantined - Nov 2

  • In Liberian slum, Ebola quarantine magnifies misery USA Today Nov 2

  • estimates put the population of West Point at 75,000

  • In West Point, people live close together in wooden and corrugated metal shacks, often sleeping dozens to a room, on blankets on a mud floor

  • Most don't have toilets — there are four communal ones in the entire slum

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Rainy season ending in Liberia, vitamin D levels rising, Ebola declining

My guess: Rain ==> low vitamin D ==> poor Immune System ==> Ebola growth

WHO data of Ebola daily growth - on Wikipedia

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3%/day = Ebola double every 24 days

0.5%/day = Ebola double every 144 days =~ half year = very slow growth

Monrovia rainfall Sept & Oct: = 750 mm/month = about 1 inch per day average

Monrovia Average Monthly Rainfall BBC has the following bar chart

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Now that the Liberian sun is coming back I expect that the Ebola growth rate will become negative sometime in Nov.

End of rainy season for Liberia: More sun, Less disease

      Which is a play on the words for our video: Does Less Sun Mean More Disease?

Note: West Africa has so much rain that the skin colors are less black.

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Recall: Vitamin D levels are low during pregnancy. From Wikipedia: "no reported cases of pregnant mothers and unborn babies surviving Ebola in Sierra Leone.

     Thus it appears: Low vitamin D (due to pregnancy ==> poor immune system ==> Ebola wins

US military leaving Liberia via Italy are being put into quarantine- Oct 27

U.S. soldiers returning from Liberia monitored for Ebola in Italy CBS News

  • Were met by Carabinieri in full hazmat suits.

  • 11 soldiers as of Oct 26, 30 more soldiers expected Oct 27 (unless they go via some other country)

  • The soldiers being monitored include Maj. Gen. Darryl Williams who was the commander of the U.S. Army in Africa

  • The soldiers are confined to a building and unable to see their families

  • A 25-bed hospital in Monrovia, Liberia's capital, should be fully operational in the first week of November.

    • Note: Liberia says that they need 3200 beds, The new hospital will supply < 1% of the number needed

    US may put all troops returning from West Africa into quarantine NYT Oct 29

Misc Ebola

Tents, like those used for Spanish flu, would be faster to put up and would provide more vitamin D

[Influenza of 1918 and vitamin D - July 2010](/pages/influenza-of-1918-and-vitamin-d/) **Surgeon General of Mass in 1918 noticed that infected people getting more sunlight had a better outcome** **They had set up overflow tents outside of the hospital** image

US National Guard doctors may be sent to West Africa - Oct 16

See also web on Ebola

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  • Best Defense Against Ebola Virus Dr. Zaidi - before Oct 2014
    • Reduce Stress, Sleep, Good nutrition, minimize exercise, get Vitamin D: 5000 I.U. per 100 Lbs. of body weight (no mention of loading dose)
  • Ask Well: Can You Get Ebola From a Toilet Seat? NYT Oct 28
    • Yes if an infectious person had recently used it
    • Especially if it is a "modern" toilet which creates a mist of droplets that can splash onto the face and hands or may contaminate stall surfaces
  • Newsletter: H1N1 flu and vitamin D Vitamin D Council May 2009
    • " . . if you get this flu, take 2,000 IU per kg of body weight per day for a week".
    • "As I weigh 220 pounds, I would take 200,000 IU per day for seven days if I thought I had an infection with a 1918-like influenza virus"
  • How Your Immune System Works HowStuffWorks The immune system protects you in 3 different ways:

  1. It creates a barrier that prevents bacteria and viruses from entering your body.

  2. If a bacteria or virus does get into the body, the immune system tries to detect and eliminate it before it can make itself at home and reproduce.

  3. If the virus or bacteria is able to reproduce and start causing problems, your immune system is in charge of eliminating it.

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Great simple ways to improve the whole personal protection (Hazmat) System

Can Better Design Stop Ebola? How Creative Minds Can Help Fast Company Oct 22

Examples:

sticky colored chlorine bleach- can see coverage, it stays in place

Duct tape removal tabs

“inverse” personal protection suit to be worn by the infected individual

friendly aprons with West African-inspired prints, so that workers in hazmat suits seem less scary and intimidating

      they allow you to suggest solutions on-line

Ebola Incubation time:

    WHO estimates 99% within 30 days
        CDC still say 21 days

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It appears that the CDC incubation time is based on an outbreak 38 years ago

Press release for the study

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Also from WHO Response Team report: 13% of Ebola infectious people never had a fever

Peter Piot - Discoverer of Ebola

Fast Ebola testers being tried in Africa

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  • Small device can test for Ebola in 15 minutes Aug 2014

  • CEO of the company had previously lead the team that made the 800 pound gorilla of testers in the past which are now used in CDC facilities

  • The price for the device is $3,000 to $5,000 and the cost of a test per patient is about $25 dollars.

  • Research paid by Homeland Security - and updated Oct 10, 2014

  • Microfluidics provides Real-time PCR (polymerase chain reaction) chemistry

  • Unfortunately it is not (currently) expected to be at airports for 2 years

  • Apparently PCR test can detect Ebola with good confidence 3 days AFTER symptoms

  • Larger PCR testers NYT

    • 3 /1000 false positives (incorrectly saying that Ebola was present),
    • 4 / 1000 false negatives (failed to detect Ebola)

  • Unknown: # of testers needed to test say 600 people per hour. 100?

  • Hopefully it is now on a fast-track to get deployed soon.

  • Testing of pre-symtomatic Ebola patients published in Lancet (2000) is interesting (reported in NYT Oct 12, 2014)

    • 4/11 false negatives, 0/13 false positives -
    • Thus some infected people would be missed - but about 60% would be detected - Which is far better than if there were no testing
A different Ebola test using just a few drops of blood is being tried in Africa (also 15 minutes)

Dr. Bob Garry is a Virologist who previously developed the test for the Lassa virus

CNN interview of Dr. Garry Oct 10, 2014

Nanomx is developing the test - which can be also distinguish between Lassa, Ebola, and Dengue viruses

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[dl2704] download from VitaminDWiki

Dallas Hospital Had the Ebola Screening Machine That the Military Is Using in Africa Oct 16

  • It’s a toaster-sized box called Film Array, produced by a company called BioFire, a subsidiary of bioMérieux

  • PCR in under an hour, costs about $39,000

  • Current FDA guidelines would not have allowed Dallas Presbyterian Hospital to get that kit. (for Ebola)

  • But unless hospitals agree to use the machine specifically for research purposes, rather than actually diagnosing patients with Ebola, they can’t look for Ebola in samples.

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Ebola eZSCREEN being developed in France - 15 minute test in Africa end of Oct?

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Ebola tester which uses essence of blood cells in paper - 30 minute test

Harvard Press Release Oct 23

no electricity needed, very low cost. tests blood or saliva

Press release has extensive description, a video, study published in the journal Cell

Early prototype: no indication of accuracy (false positives or false negatives)

No indication of how infectious a person must be, (typical PRT tests apparently are not accurate until 2nd day of symptoms)

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Possible Ebola TREATMENTS - some might provide prevention

Vitamin C

Teatment possible, but have found no claim/hint that Vitamin C can PREVENT Ebola

  • Dr. Gerry Schwalfenberg Oct 6, 2014
    • Vitamin C has been shown to work for dengue fever and a couple of the nasty viruses.
    • My suspicion is that you need both for Eboli
  • Surprising solution for Ebola virus Dr Thomas Levy, Aug 3 2014
    • He has a LOT of information on high dose vitamin C - including use to TREAT Ebola
    • Lots of interesting reader comments

  • High Doses of Vitamin C Could Rid the Body of the Ebola Virus NaturalSociety Oct 5, 2014

  • Can Vitamin C Cure Ebola? GreenMedInfo Sept 17, 2014 >10 grams per day

  • Mega-dose vitamin C kills the Ebola virus

    • The WHO and CDC know that ebola kills by depleting the body of all vitamin C. So why are the WHO and the CDC not reassuring the world that vitamin C cures ebola by resupplying what the body lost?
    • The very first symptoms of ebola are exactly the same as scurvy,which is caused by inadequate vitamin C.
    • To date, not a single virus has been tested that is not inactivated (killed) by a large enough dose of vitamin C (ascorbic acid).
  • Ebola and Marburg Virus Orthomolecular Medicine - huge amount of information on Vitamin C and some on Ebola
    • My experience with giving massive doses of ascorbic acid orally to over 30,000 patients and with giving intravenous sodium ascorbate to over 2,000 patients would indicate that with Ebola and other viral hemorrhagic fever diseases that intravenous sodium ascorbate should be used in doses beginning with at least 180 grams per 24 hours.

  • YouTiube has hundreds of videos on Vitamin C CURING Ebola Large dose, intravenous, or liposomal

  • Guest view: Could Ebola patients be helped by Vitamin C? Oct 18 DR. DAVE MCCARTHY

  • Dr. Levy Oct 19 update

Comment by VitaminDWiki on use of massive doses of Vitamin C

The human body is not used to massive doses of vitamin C

Taken orally, it appears that normal Vitamin C would have to be taken >10 times per day

Vitamin C could also be taken intravenously.

In both cases I suspect that medical observation would be needed to look for resulting imbalances in the body

There are, however, VERY FEW medical personnel in many countries concerned with Ebola

      Example: Liberia has the same population as Kentucky, but has 400X fewer doctors

Have yet (Oct 6) to see ANY data to support the claim that Ebola consumes vitamin C

Have not seen any indication that massive vitamin C can PREVENT Ebola

Many supplements slowly build immune systems - which is OK if you have 3-6 months

Some have just a single ingredient, most have many combinations

Red marine algae might PREVENT and TREAT Ebola in humans

  • Red Algae Extract Fights Ebola ... and HIV, SARS and HCV GreenMedInfo Oct 2014
    • Summary after a quick read:
    • 1) 30% of people infected with Ebola did not get symptoms a decade ago
    • 2) Those people had developed antibodies via mechanism called mannose-binding lectins and griffithsin
    • 3) Red marine algae also produces griffithsin
    • 4) Tests were made giving a recombinant form both before and after giving Ebola to mice ,
    • 5) More mice survived Ebola in both cases.

So: it appears that red marine algae might both prevent Ebola and as well as treat early stage Ebola.

      Noticed that there were > 190 suppliers of red marine algae supplements on Amazon (US) - Oct 2014

      None of the suppliers seem to provide % ingredient information on Amazon - need to do some research

      Have no idea if 1 gram or 100 grams of the stuff is needed

      Have no idea if it takes months to build up the immune system with red marine algae

      Basically - lots and lots of unknowns

Glutathione: might prevent, treat Ebola

Appears that Glutathione used to be much more prevalent in the body

Have not had time to evaluate the following items

Ozone: might treat Ebola (no prevention indication)

Ozone Therapy: A Possible Answer to Ebola? Mercola Oct 26

  • Dr. Robert Rowen who is a leading expert on oxidative therapy,

  • has video and transcript

  • ozone actually disinfects 10 times faster than chlorine. It’s the most powerful natural oxidant in the world.

  • Ozone also has the advantage of stimulating the immune system, and modulating it—either up or down depending on what your system requires.

  • “Ozone is only hard on the lungs, but it can be given in other ways. It can be given intravenously.

    • It can be given in the bladder, in the vagina, in the rectum, via injection – anywhere. It’s just [that] it can be tough on the lungs. You don’t want to be breathing it...
  • Ozone therapy: A clinical review Jan 2011 full text on-line

Selenium and some of the above

Clinics overwhelmed - majority of the infectious have to return home - Oct 2014

Also: Most likely even more people do not even try to go to a clinic, since they expect that they wil be turned away

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Doctors without Borders

New York Times Oct 11, 2014

Most of its $1.3 billion in donations last year came from private individuals across the globe (expect more donations with Ebola)

Nobel Peace Prize in 1999

The charity sent about 6,000 health, logistics and other experts to 67 countries last year, and hired 30,000 local workers.

Ebola Front-Line Doctors at Breaking Point Bloomberg Oct 19

They have treated almost a third of the roughly 9,000 confirmed Ebola cases in Africa .

Medical supply needs of Liberia as of Oct 15

MotherJones

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Tags: Immunity Virus