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Healthcare Workers with Vitamin D Deficiency are at Greater Risk for COVID-19, Study Reveals

Feb, 2021 - By WMR

According to a new study by the researchers of University of Birmingham have reported to find that healthcare workers especially from Black, Asian or ethnic minority backgrounds with vitamin D deficiency are at higher risk for getting infected with COVID-19.

In the study, researchers tested blood samples from 392 healthcare workers of University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, who were recruited during end of the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers tested the samples for detecting the presence of SARS-Cov-2 antibodies using a novel in-house assay. Researchers observed that out of 392 workers, around 55% exhibited SARS-Cov-2 antibodies, indicating that they were infected with the virus. Moreover, 61 (or 15.6%) workers were deficient in vitamin-D, who were majority from the BAME backgrounds.

Researchers also found that, majority of the vitamin D deficient were workers reported symptoms of body aches and pains, however there was no report of any respiratory symptoms such as breathlessness or a continuous cough. Moreover, these vitamin D deficient staffs also reported of experiencing symptoms of fever. In addition, researchers suggested that healthcare workers with vitamin D deficiency (BAME group) are more susceptible to the virus in comparison to non-vitamin D deficient BAME staff.

David Thickett, author, from the University of Birmingham's Institute of Inflammation and Aging stated, “Our study has shown that there is an increased risk of COVID-19 infection in healthcare workers who are deficient in vitamin D. Finally, our results, combined with existing evidence further demonstrates the potential benefits of vitamin D supplementation in individuals at risk of vitamin D deficiency or who are shown to be deficient as a way to potentially alleviate the impact of COVID-19.”