Does Vitamin D Serum Levels Affect The Risk of Covid 19 and its Clinical Outcomes? A Review of Literature
East African Scholars Journal of Medicine and Surgery Volume-2 | Issue-6| Jun-2020 | DOI: 10.36349/EASJMS.2020.v02i06.28
Ikeagwulo 皿 RC1，Etukudoh NS2, Obeta MU2*，Mgbecheta CU3
1 Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki-Nigeria
2 Federal School of Medical Laboratory Science, Jos, Nigeria
3 AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Benue, Nigeria
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Note: A majority of the new COVID-19 and Vitamin D studies are in preprint, not PubMed 143 as of July 11,2020
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Background: SARS-COV-2 has brought untold hardship, economic meltdown, mystery and deaths to the world and has been declared a global pandemic by the WHO. The aim of this study is to review evidence that either support or refute the hypothesis that some level of relationships exists between vitamin D serum level and the risk of COVID-19 disease as well as its clinical outcome.
Materials and Methods: A Pubmed/Medline, Google scholar, JSTOR^ and AJOL search was performed in May 2020 for studies that links COVID-19 to serum levels of vitamin D. Search terms used include a combination of vitamin D, ascorbic acid, 25-hydroxycholecalciferol? corona virus, COVID-19, and SARS- COV-2.
A total of 79 articles were identified (mostly from Pubmed / Medline and Google scholar) after removal of duplicates, out of which 7(5.9%) articles met the inclusion criteria. 85% of the studies reported that a link exist between Vitamin D levels and risk of COVID-19 infection and also, that being positive for COVID-19 was associated with deficiency or lower levels of vitamin D. Critical cases of COVID-19 and its associated mortality was linked to deficiency or lower serum levels of vitamin D in some studies. Age? sex and ethnicity are important factors that detemine the outcome of these relationships.
Conclusion: This study adds to body of evidence that the risk of COVID-19 and its clinical outcome is associated with the vitamin D levels of the subjects. There is a need to include serum Vitamin D testing parameter among COVID-19 patients in their treatment centers across the globe and in Nigeria in particular.