A preliminary study has found tentative evidence suggesting low levels of vitamin D may make it more likely an individual will die after contracting coronavirus.
The research compared average levels of vitamin D across 20 European countries with Covid-19 infection rate and mortality.
It revealed a convincing correlation where countries with low vitamin D levels were also the countries with highest mortality and Covid-19 infection rates, according to media reports.
The study has not yet been peer-reviewed and scrutinized by other scientists and is unable to prove vitamin D is the reason behind this link.
However, the scientists from Queen Elizabeth Hospital Foundation Trust and the University of East Anglia write in their study: “We believe, that we can advise Vitamin D supplementation to protect against SARS-CoV2 infection.”
This finding backs up a separate study which also found vitamin D may improve a person’s chance of recovery after contracting the coronavirus, reports The Daily Mail.
The latest study used pre-existing data on vitamin D levels, including from a comprehensive 2019 study led by Paul Lips, Professor Emeritus of internal medicine at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
