Effects of Vitamin D on Risks and Severity of COVID-19 Infection

In the last two decades, numerous studies have been carried out to find correlations between vitamin D and the efficiency of the lungs and respiratory system. This study aimed to find the relationship of taking vitamin D with the risks of the severity of infection with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the risk of infection of patients with chronic diseases. A total of 100 COVID-19 patients (61 males and 39 females) were included in the study and divided into groups, namely never taken vitamin D and taken a dose of 50 and 1,000 IU. The effects of gender, chronic diseases (i.e., hypertension and diabetes), and requiring intensive care unit (ICU) were evaluated. The results showed that females were at lower risks of infection with COVID-19 than males and taking 50 IU of vitamin D could lower the severe cases by 33%. It was also revealed that patients with chronic disease were more sensitive to COVID-19 and administering 50 units of vitamin D in these patients decreased the need for ICU from 49% to 9%. Given that vitamin D enhances the immune system and respiratory function, the findings of this research indicated that vitamin D reduced the risk of COVID-19; however, it was not able to prevent it.