An international team of researchers believes that this is the first analysis of vitamin D prevalence with COVID-19 infections and mortalities across Asia comprising 24 countries from the Middle East to South East Asia, linking vitamin D deficiency with higher COVID-19 infection and mortality in Asian countries.
Vitamin D supplementation has been called for by researchers in Ireland to reduce the severity of COVID-19 symptoms. Studies in France have found that elderly people who previously have taken vitamin D3 supplements were more likely to survive/have better outcomes. A team of researchers from America, Europe, and the UK have written an open letter to world governments calling for immediate increased daily intake of vitamin D for healthy adults as an intervention to help reduce COVID-19 infection, hospitalization, and mortality.
Individual countries in Asia, including China, are reporting associations between vitamin D deficiency and COVID-19 infection and mortality, with serum vitamin D concentrations being found to be significantly lower in COVID-19 patients. Now a team of international researchers from Australia, India, and Sri Lanka have conducted an analysis of vitamin D prevalence with infections and mortalities across Asia comprising 24 countries, also assessing the effect of confounding factors such as obesity and diabetes which are known additional risk factors for infection and mortality.
