Does vitamin D supplementation prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection in military personnel? Review of the evidence

Parsons, Iain; Gifford, Robert M.; Stacey, Michael; Lamb, Lucy; O’Shea, Matthew K.; Woods, David R.

doi:10.1136/bmjmilitary-2020-001686

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 68 publications

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“…At a time when detection testing and vaccines were not available, the beneficial effects of several nutrients, foods, supplements, and dietary approaches on COVID-19 prevention and treatment were hypothesized in the scientific literature but not yet adequately tested [ 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 ], such as the ingestion or intravenous injection of mega doses of vitamins C and D well above recommended thresholds, posing safety concerns [ 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 ]. Nearly 3 in 10 respondents misinformedly affirmed that taking 12 g of vitamin C daily can help remedy a COVID-19 infection, and a smaller proportion (1 in 6) that ‘Taking high-dose vitamin C and D supplements will stop you from catching COVID-19.’ Encouragingly, a majority (8 in 10) recognized the essentiality of vitamin C for immune function (S16).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Susceptibility to COVID-19 Nutrition Misinformation and Eating Behavior Change during Lockdowns: An International Web-Based Survey

Ruani

Reiß

2023

Nutrients

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To understand the susceptibility to nutrition-health misinformation related to preventing, treating, or mitigating the risk of COVID-19 during the initial lockdowns around the world, the present international web-based survey study (15 April–15 May 2020) gauged participants’ (n = 3707) level of nutrition-health misinformation discernment by presenting them with 25 statements (including unfounded or unproven claims circulated at the time), alongside the influence of information sources of varying quality on the frequency of changes in their eating behavior and the extent of misinformation held, depending on the source used for such changes. Results revealed widespread misinformation about food, eating, and health practices related to COVID-19, with the 25 statements put to participants receiving up to 43% misinformed answers (e.g., ‘It is safe to eat fruits and vegetables that have been washed with soap or diluted bleach’). Whereas higher quality information sources (nutrition scientists, nutrition professionals) had the biggest influence on eating behavior change, we found greater misinformation susceptibility when relying on poor quality sources for changing diet. Appropriate discernment of misinformation was weakest amongst participants who more frequently changed their eating behavior because of information from poor quality sources, suggesting disparities in the health risks/safety of the changes performed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Susceptibility to COVID-19 Nutrition Misinformation and Eating Behavior Change during Lockdowns: An International Web-Based Survey

Ruani

Reiß

2023

Nutrients

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“…Among these, bank managers, office employees, call center operators and university workers represent subgroups of workers that were not studied during the COVID-19 pandemic, with respect to other categories such as militaries and hospital personnel [33][34][35][40][41][42]. These workers are reported to be susceptible for both vitamin D deficiency and exposure to highly contagious respiratory pathogens, such as SARS-COV-2 [49][50][51][52].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vitamin D status and COVID-19 prevention in a worker subgroup in Italy

Ubaldi

Montanari²,

Margarucci

et al. 2023

WOR

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BACKGROUND: There are many people around the world with low levels of vitamin D and the amount is associated with sun exposure, genetics, or lifestyles. Office workers in different occupational sectors seem more vulnerable than others. Scientific evidence reports a contribution of vitamin D in resistance to infections, opening to supplementation as a preventive action against pathogens, including SARS-CoV-2. OBJECTIVE: A pilot campaign in the workplace during the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic was conducted based on the preliminary measurement of vitamin D amount and its integration. METHODS: A preventive action to contrast the deficiency of vitamin D was offered to a population of 700 bank employees. Vitamin D supplementation was performed between April and June 2021, on workers (n = 139) and showed 25(OH)D serum levels ≤ 30 ng/ml. Demographic, anthropometric and lifestyle information were collected by survey and changes in the serum 25(OH)D amounts were monitored. RESULTS: The adherence of the target population to the prevention campaign was 21%. 75% of the enrolled workers had low levels of vitamin D. After the intervention, serum vitamin D levels increased (1.28-fold;p = 0.0001) and 80% of the subjects reported optimal values > 30 ng/ml. Only 2.9% reported slight flu-like symptoms, but only 0.7% was confirmed as COVID-19, with respect to a ten-fold higher incidence in the general population. CONCLUSIONS: Vitamin D supplementation can be achieved by simple and noninvasive approaches and can bring along further insights into health literacy on diet and lifestyles, representing an opportunity to protect the population by the widespread state of vitamin deficiency observed.

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“…Some studies showed that the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency rises during military basic training. 29 30 Merging high physical and psychological demands with inadequate nutrition and/or sleep disruption places the active duty Navy military personnel at high risk for vitamin D deficiency. 31 The lack of exposure to the sun when living and working in a warship or a submarine also increases the risk of vitamin D deficiency.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vitamin D status in the active duty Navy military personnel: protocol for a systematic review

et al. 2022

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IntroductionVitamin D is critical for bone health and its deficiency has been linked to increased incidence and severity of multiple diseases. Even so, vitamin D inadequacy is a major public health problem worldwide. The main source of vitamin D is endogenous cutaneous synthesis through exposure to solar ultraviolet B radiation, which is influenced by several factors, including occupational. The active duty Navy military personnel may be prone to vitamin D inadequacy, but a worldwide overview of vitamin D status in this specific population is still lacking.Methods and analysisThe CoCoPop mnemonic will be used for determining the inclusion criteria. Scopus, Web of Science and PubMed/Medline will be searched for all studies including 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations of the active duty Navy military personnel. Data extraction and quality assessment (Joanna Briggs Institute’s and Downs and Black checklists) will be performed by two reviewers and data will be synthesised in narrative, tabular and map formats.Ethics and disseminationThis study will not involve human or animal subjects and, thus, does not require ethics approval. The outcomes will be disseminated via publication in a peer-reviewed scientific journal and presentation at a scientific conference.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42022287057.

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Does vitamin D supplementation prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection in military personnel? Review of the evidence

Cited by 7 publications

References 68 publications

Susceptibility to COVID-19 Nutrition Misinformation and Eating Behavior Change during Lockdowns: An International Web-Based Survey

Susceptibility to COVID-19 Nutrition Misinformation and Eating Behavior Change during Lockdowns: An International Web-Based Survey

Vitamin D status and COVID-19 prevention in a worker subgroup in Italy

Vitamin D status in the active duty Navy military personnel: protocol for a systematic review

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