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Israeli scientists from Bar Ilan University and the Galilee Medical Centre have concluded that increased Vitamin D levels reduces the risk of serious illness in COVID-19 patients.
The peer-reviewed study, published in the PLOS One journal in February, was conducted during the first two waves of Israel’s COVID spread. Throughout the pandemic, especially before vaccines were widely available, health authorities in Israel and several other countries have recommended that people take vitamin D supplements to improve their immune response to the virus, however, until now data on its effectiveness was sparse.
Dr. Amiel Dror, a doctor at the Galilee Medical Centre and researcher at Bar Ilan said that they “found it remarkable, and striking, to see the difference in the chances of becoming a severe patient when you are lacking in vitamin D compared to when you’re not.” He explains the reasoning behind the findings: “vitamin D helps people with COVID infections is a result of its effectiveness in bolstering the immune systems to deal with viral pathogens that attack the respiratory system”.
In June, researchers published preliminary findings showing that 26% of coronavirus patients died if they were vitamin D deficient soon before hospitalisation, compared to 3% who had normal levels of vitamin D. To reduce confounding variables, external factors such as serious illness that could reduce vitamin D levels and increase vulnerability to COVID, Dr Dror’s team looked at a vitamin D levels over a two-year time frame before a patient’s COVID diagnosis.
The team found that “wherever you look over the two years before infection, the correlation between vitamin D and disease severity is extremely strong”. Dr Dror explains that the findings of this study are important as “it offers much stronger support than anything seen so far emphasising the importance of boosting vitamin D levels during the pandemic”, therefore it is not based on incomplete or skewed data.
He goes on to stress “the value of everyone taking a vitamin D supplements” which, taken in sensible amounts and in accordance with official advice, doesn’t have any downside.
Another Israeli medical study has debunked claims that the COVID vaccine reduces fertility and the success rate of IVF. Professor Orvieto, director of the Infertility and IVF Institute at Sheba Medical Centre and leader of the research team, states that “there is no discernible difference in fertility rates between those who have received a vaccine and those who haven’t… That appears to be a fact across the board, for both male and female fertility rates and for both natural pregnancies and IVF treatments”. In the study his team called the claims “unfounded” and “false” used by “anti-vaccine activists aim to incite fear and deter public opinion from vaccination”.
