Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Hacettepe University Medical School, Ankara, Turkey.
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Türkmenbaşı Medical Center, Adana, Turkey.
Br J Nutr. 2020 Oct 14;124(7):736-741. doi: 10.1017/S0007114520001749. Epub 2020 May 12.
The WHO has announced the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak to be a global pandemic. The distribution of community outbreaks shows seasonal patterns along certain latitude, temperature and humidity, that is, similar to the behaviour of seasonal viral respiratory tract infections. COVID-19 displays significant spread in northern mid-latitude countries with an average temperature of 5–11°C and low humidity. Vitamin D deficiency has also been described as pandemic, especially in Europe. Regardless of age, ethnicity and latitude, recent data showed that 40 % of Europeans are vitamin D deficient (25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) levels <50 nmol/l), and 13 % are severely deficient (25(OH)D < 30 nmol/l). A quadratic relationship was found between the prevalences of vitamin D deficiency in most commonly affected countries by COVID-19 and the latitudes. Vitamin D deficiency is more common in the subtropical and mid-latitude countries than the tropical and high-latitude countries. The most commonly affected countries with severe vitamin D deficiency are from the subtropical (Saudi Arabia 46 %; Qatar 46 %; Iran 33·4 %; Chile 26·4 %) and mid-latitude (France 27·3 %; Portugal 21·2 %; Austria 19·3 %) regions. Severe vitamin D deficiency was found to be nearly 0 % in some high-latitude countries (e.g. Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Netherlands). Accordingly, we would like to call attention to the possible association between severe vitamin D deficiency and mortality pertaining to COVID-19. Given its rare side effects and relatively wide safety, prophylactic vitamin D supplementation and/or food fortification might reasonably serve as a very convenient adjuvant therapy for these two worldwide public health problems alike.
世界卫生组织已宣布新型冠状病毒病（COVID-19）疫情为全球大流行。社区爆发的分布呈现出沿某些纬度、温度和湿度的季节性模式，即类似于季节性病毒性呼吸道感染的行为。COVID-19 在平均温度为 5-11°C 且湿度较低的中纬度北方国家中显示出明显的传播。维生素 D 缺乏也被描述为大流行，尤其是在欧洲。无论年龄、种族和纬度如何，最近的数据表明，40%的欧洲人存在维生素 D 缺乏（25-羟维生素 D（25(OH)D）水平<50nmol/l），13%的人存在严重缺乏（25(OH)D<30nmol/l）。在 COVID-19 最常受影响的国家中，维生素 D 缺乏的流行率与纬度之间存在二次关系。在亚热带和中纬度国家，维生素 D 缺乏比热带和高纬度国家更为常见。维生素 D 严重缺乏最常受影响的国家来自亚热带（沙特阿拉伯 46%；卡塔尔 46%；伊朗 33·4%；智利 26·4%）和中纬度地区（法国 27·3%；葡萄牙 21·2%；奥地利 19·3%）。在一些高纬度国家（如挪威、芬兰、瑞典、丹麦和荷兰）发现严重维生素 D 缺乏几乎为 0%。因此，我们想提请注意严重维生素 D 缺乏与 COVID-19 死亡率之间可能存在的关联。鉴于其罕见的副作用和相对较宽的安全性，预防性维生素 D 补充和/或食物强化可能合理地作为这两种全球公共卫生问题的非常方便的辅助治疗方法。
