There is good evidence that vitamin D deficiency contributes to a compromised immune health and seasonal increases in upper respiratory tract infections and influenza. Possible links with COVID-19 are still being investigated. What are your thoughts?
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A very topical area indeed Sally! This has been a common theme of research publications to the BMJ Nutrition, Prevention and Health special collection on Nutrition Interactions with COVID-19 (and more widely), many of which are included in the iKANN evidence repository.
At NNEdPro, our COVID-19 Taskforce have published a position statement in an attempt to draw attention to this topic, which was written in response to a consensus article from a number of academics, nutrition scientists and practitioners published at the outset of the pandemic 'Vitamin D and SARS-CoV-2 virus/COVID-19 disease'.
Our response, also published in BMJ-NPH aimed to draw attention to groups at higher risk during the pandemic, who also tend to be at higher risk of micronutrient deficiencies and poorer overall nutrition - meaning Vitamin D status could be an even bigger consideration for some. We also discuss how much of the published evidence so far has been open to variable interpretation, aiming to make clear what was known and what wasn't known at the time.
The response and article available here: https://nutrition.bmj.com/content/3/1/106.responses#a-position-stat...
Some time has passed since this publication and with it further research on the potential link between vitamin D status and COVID-19. I would be interested to know if others in this network have additional thoughts to those we have outlined? Or feel we have further clarity based on research that has been published since?