Despite numerous publications concerning the effectiveness of vitamin D supplementation for health, its effectiveness against Covid-19 remains uncertain to this day.
Vitamin D is at the heart of all debates during the Covid-19 period. Many studies claim that the purpose of this vitamin is to protect the population against severe forms of the coronavirus. According to French Society of Pharmacology, “Vitamin D also plays a role in so-called“ innate ”immunity, by stimulating the body’s non-specific immune cells, the first line of defense against infections. It would also have a role in the modulation of the inflammatory response, hence the question of its preventive or curative effectiveness against COVID-19 “. But a new study, published on February 17 in the medical journal JAMA Network states that vitamin D supplementation does not significantly reduce the length of hospital stay for those infected.
Insufficient scientific data to rule on its effectiveness
Conducted by the School of Medicine of the University of Sao Paulo and the Ibirapuera field hospital, the researchers analyzed the effectiveness of this vitamin in 240 patients with the coronavirus. The clinical trial was randomized and placebo controlled. The researchers formed two groups. Patients in the “vitamin D” group who received a single dose of vitamin dissolved in peanut oil solution. As for the patients in the “placebo” group, they only received a peanut oil solution. The two products administered were similar (taste, odor, consistency). Through their results, the study authors found that the researchers found that the need for mechanical ventilation, hospital mortality or length of hospital stay did not differ between the two groups. Brazilian researchers thus specify “that a single high dose of vitamin D did not significantly reduce the length of hospital stay or improve other clinical outcomes in patients with moderate to severe Covid-19 ”.
