Vitamin D Supplementation for Hospitalized Patients with COVID-19?

A single high dose didn't lower mortality or shorten length of stay.

Experimental data suggest that vitamin D plays a role in the immune response and might have an anti-inflammatory effect. Whether patients with COVID-19 and vitamin D deficiency have worse outcomes and whether vitamin D supplementation could help mitigate severity of disease is unclear.

Investigators from Brazil randomized 240 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 to receive either a single oral dose of vitamin D₃ (200,000 IU) or placebo. Almost all patients required supplemental oxygen, and a small number received noninvasive ventilation. Patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) were not enrolled. About two thirds of patients received corticosteroids.

Despite significantly higher mean 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels in treated patients, hospital le…

Reviewing Author

Patricia Kritek, MD

Disclosures

Editorial BoardsATS Scholar

Patricia Kritek, MD

Disclosures

Editorial BoardsATS Scholar

Vitamin D Supplementation for Hospitalized Patients with COVID-19?

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Reviewing Author