Hypovitaminosis D and the Wuhan Bug
Way back in the early days of 2020, when the world watched a novel respiratory virus out of China become a pandemic, I noticed something… interesting. Initially at least, it was hitting hard a fairly narrow band of northern hemisphere latitudes. It was sparing some places one would expected it to go nuts, like the big dump Asian cities e.g. The Big Durian (Jakarta). It was almost as if the SARS-CoV-2 virus suffered from photophobia, a la Dracula.
Then I noticed something else: it wasn’t hammering the Nordic countries either. I thought about it, and something occurred to me: cod liver oil. Okay, that’s old-school, but the folks of the North have been supplementing their diets – especially at wintertime – with vitamin D since… forever. They know if they don’t, they’ll get sick.
So I started screaming loudly, “Hey, everyone: it looks like this bug targets vitamin D deficiency like a cruise missile – why not, as a prophy, get people to add some D3? After all, it’s cheap, easy, and virtually risk-free provided you don’t go completely overboard with it.”
And, of course, was soundly ignored, cuz nobody listens to a stinky caveman, especially one without a medical degree. And cuz D3 is cheap and not patented, so there’s no money in it.
Then the evidence started pouring in.
This was long before anyone was even discussing ivermectin or even hydroxychloroquine (+ zinc) – let alone experimental vaccines – but with each new study it became increasingly clear that the bug’s impact could have been significantly curtailed with one simple intervention, and one that would fall squarely into the category of Something They Should Probably Be Doing Anyway.
But NONE of this was being discussed by the Public Health Experts. It STILL isn’t. Makes one wonder if their agenda is something other than “health” – “public” or otherwise.
I’m not a doctor nor play one on TV. I’m not even a medical researcher. (I AM an IT guy who notices patterns in numbers.) I’ll let the work of those folks speak for them. Without further ado:
Papers:
Vitamin D Supplementation: A Review of the Evidence Arguing for a Daily Dose of 2000 International Units (50 µg) of Vitamin D for Adults in the General Population
https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/16/3/391
Association between vitamin D supplementation and COVID-19 infection and mortality
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-24053-4
Efficacy and Safety of Vitamin D Supplementation to Prevent COVID-19 in Frontline Healthcare Workers. A Randomized Clinical Trial
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0188440922000455
Pre-infection 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 levels and association with severity of COVID-19 illness
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0263069
Rapid and Effective Vitamin D Supplementation May Present Better Clinical Outcomes in COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) Patients
by Altering Serum INOS1, IL1B, IFNg, Cathelicidin-LL37, and ICAM1
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/labs/pmc/articles/PMC8618389/pdf/nutrients-13-04047.pdf
Calcifediol treatment and COVID-19-related outcomes
https://academic.oup.com/jcem/advance-article/doi/10.1210/clinem/dgab405/6294179
Vitamin D deficiency as a predictor of poor prognosis in patients with acute respiratory failure due to COVID-19
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7415009/
SARS-CoV-2 positivity rates associated with circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32941512/
25-Hydroxyvitamin D Concentrations Are Lower in Patients with Positive PCR for SARS-CoV-2
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32397511/
Evidence that Vitamin D Supplementation Could Reduce Risk of Influenza and COVID-19 Infections and Deaths
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32252338/
Vitamin D Deficiency and Outcome of COVID-19 Patients
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32927735/
Vitamin D Insufficiency is Prevalent in Severe COVID-19
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.24.20075838v1
The Possible Role of Vitamin D in Suppressing Cytokine Storm and Associated Mortality in COVID-19 Patients
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.08.20058578v4
Potential Role of Vitamin D in the Elderly to Resist COVID-19 and to Slow Progression of Parkinson’s Disease
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32397275/
Vitamin D Supplementation: A Potential Approach for Coronavirus/COVID-19 Therapeutics?
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7324720/
Possible role of vitamin D in Covid-19 infection in pediatric population
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32557271/
Does Vitamin D play a role in the management of Covid-19 in Brazil?
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7244235/
The role of vitamin D in the prevention of coronavirus disease 2019 infection and mortality
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7202265/
Associations between hypovitaminosis D and COVID-19: a narrative review
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7376522/
Role of vitamin D in preventing of COVID-19 infection, progression and severity
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7305922/
Potential role of hypovitaminosis D and Vitamin D supplementation during COVID-19 pandemic
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32735326/
Vitamin-D and COVID-19: do deficient risk a poorer outcome?
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7239633/
Commentary. Eliminating Vitamin D Deficiency During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Call to Action
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7377789/
“Effect of Calcifediol Treatment and best Available Therapy versus best Available Therapy on Intensive Care Unit Admission and Mortality Among Patients Hospitalized for COVID-19: A Pilot Randomized Clinical study”
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960076020302764
Short term, high-dose vitamin D supplementation for COVID-19 disease: a randomised, placebo-controlled, study (SHADE study)
https://pmj.bmj.com/content/early/2020/11/12/postgradmedj-2020-139065.full
SARS-CoV-2 positivity rates associated with circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0239252
General:
Dr. John Campbell: Vitamin D, now conclusive
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5sc7G4s4CY
Vitamin D Deficiency Linked to Severe, Deadly COVID-19: Study
https://www.theepochtimes.com/vitamin-d-deficiency-linked-to-severe-deadly-covid-19-study_4256464.html?utm_source=ref_share&utm_campaign=copy&rs=SHRDCDTP&
The Effects of Vitamin D and COVID-Related Outcomes
https://www.theepochtimes.com/the-effects-of-vitamin-d-and-covid-related-outcomes_3896844.html?utm_source=sharemorningbriefnoe
MedCram: Dr. Seheult on supplements:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NM2A2xNLWR4
On D generally:
https://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/vitamins/vitamin-D
Scroll down to “Acute Respiratory Infections”
Vitamin D and Immunity:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5yVGmfivAk
On D3 and K2:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5613455/
(The K2 keeps the D from dropping calcium into arteries instead of bones and teeth.)
On D deficiency in Europe (but not so much places like Iceland where they routinely supplement):
https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/103/4/1033/4662891
Editorial: low population mortality from COVID‐19 in countries south of latitude 35 degrees North supports vitamin D as a factor determining severity
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/apt.15777
Quercetin and Vitamin C: Synergistic Therapy for COVID-19 (also mentions D)
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2020/08/joseph-mercola/quercetin-and-vitamin-c-synergistic-therapy-for-covid-19/
COVID-19 and the 1918-20 ‘Spanish’ Flu, a ‘Progressive’ Century Apart
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2020/08/donald-w-miller-jr-md/covid-19-and-the-1918-20-spanish-flu-a-progressive-century-apart/
Hospitals May Be Slow To Add Vitamin D To COVID-19 Treatment Regimens Because Of Loss Of Income
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2020/09/no_author/hospitals-may-be-slow-to-add-vitamin-d-to-covid-19-treatment-regimens-because-of-loss-of-income/
Adequate Levels of Vitamin D Reduces Complications, Death Among COVID-19 Patients
https://www.bumc.bu.edu/busm/2020/09/25/adequate-levels-of-vitamin-d-reduces-complications-death-among-covid-19-patients/
Vitamin D can help reduce coronavirus risk by 54%: Boston University doctor
https://www.bostonherald.com/2020/09/17/vitamin-d-can-help-reduce-coronavirus-risk-by-54-boston-university-doctor/
Op-Ed: Don’t Let COVID-19 Patients Die With Vitamin D Deficiency
https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/covid19/90530
MedCram: Vitamin D and COVID 19: The Evidence for Prevention and Treatment of Coronavirus (SARS CoV 2)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ha2mLz-Xdpg