Acquiring adequate vitamin D during the Covid-19 pandemic: evidence for a protective role?

Description

Vitamin D regulates calcium absorption and bone mineralisation and is essential for bone health with deficiency causing rickets in children and osteomalacia in older children and adults. Our main source of vitamin D is synthesis in the skin following sunlight exposure with only small amounts obtained from food. In the UK, adults and children over 5 are advised to consume 10µg vitamin D daily (through food or supplements) during autumn and winter. As a consequence of most people spending more time indoors during the Covid-19 pandemic, advice has been to continue taking vitamin D supplements over the lockdown period. Vitamin D also has immunoregulatory functions and it has been suggested that increased vitamin D intake could prevent or reduce symptoms of coronavirus infection. However, there are conflicting data regarding vitamin D and acute respiratory tract infection (ARTI). A 2019 meta-analysis assessing the effect of vitamin D supplementation on the risk of ARTI reported a protective effect. In contrast, two very recent reviews commissioned by Public Health England concluded that current evidence does not support vitamin D supplementation for the prevention of ARTIs but reiterated the importance of vitamin D for bone health.

Period	17 Jul 2020
Event title	MICRA Webinar Series: Our immunologial defences - staying fit in the COVID world
Event type	Seminar
Location	OnlineShow on map