Mogire Reagan M
Center for Clinical Research, Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), Kisumu, Kenya.
PLOS Glob Public Health. 2025 Jul 28;5(7):e0004074. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0004074. eCollection 2025.
In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, understanding the interplay between environmental factors and virus spread is crucial for global preparedness strategies. This study explores how geographic latitude, sunshine duration, and vitamin D status were associated with the incidence and fatality rates of COVID-19 across 187 countries during the crucial early months of the outbreak. Data on the total number of COVID-19 cases by country were obtained from the COVID-19 Data Repository by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) as of June 30, 2020. Univariate and multivariate regression analyses were conducted to determine the associations between COVID-19 cases and latitude, average hours of sunshine from January to June, and mean 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) levels. The average COVID-19 cumulative incidence and mortality per million population were 2,087 and 69, respectively, with a case fatality rate of 3.19%. COVID-19 case fatality rate was positively associated with latitude (β = 0.030; 95% CI: 0.008, 0.052) and negatively associated with hours of sunshine (β = -1.51; 95% CI: -4.44, 1.41) and 25(OH)D levels (β = -0.054; 95% CI: -0.089, -0.019) in adjusted linear regression analyses. Findings were similar for COVID-19 cumulative incidence and mortality rate. These findings indicate that higher latitude and lower 25(OH)D levels were associated with increased COVID-19 severity and mortality. While the data highlight potential links between vitamin D status and COVID-19 outcomes, causality cannot be inferred.
面对新冠疫情，了解环境因素与病毒传播之间的相互作用对于全球防范策略至关重要。本研究探讨了在疫情爆发关键的最初几个月里，地理纬度、日照时长和维生素D水平如何与187个国家的新冠发病率和死亡率相关。截至2020年6月30日，各国新冠病例总数的数据来自系统科学与工程中心（CSSE）的新冠数据存储库。进行了单变量和多变量回归分析，以确定新冠病例与纬度、1月至6月的平均日照时长以及平均25-羟基维生素D（25(OH)D）水平之间的关联。每百万人口的新冠累计发病率和死亡率平均分别为2087例和69例，病死率为3.19%。在调整后的线性回归分析中，新冠病死率与纬度呈正相关（β = 0.030；95%置信区间：0.008，0.052），与日照时长呈负相关（β = -1.51；95%置信区间：-4.44，1.41），与25(OH)D水平呈负相关（β = -0.054；95%置信区间：-0.089，-0.019）。新冠累计发病率和死亡率的结果相似。这些发现表明，较高的纬度和较低的25(OH)D水平与新冠严重程度和死亡率增加有关。虽然数据突出了维生素D水平与新冠结果之间的潜在联系，但无法推断因果关系。
