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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Med.
Sec. Infectious Diseases: Pathogenesis and Therapy
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2024.1494129

Vitamin D deficiency and duration of COVID-19 symptoms in UK healthcare workers

Provisionally accepted
Karan R Chadda Karan R Chadda 1,2Sophie A Roberts Sophie A Roberts 1Sebastian T Lugg Sebastian T Lugg 1Aduragbemi A Faniyi Aduragbemi A Faniyi 1Sian E Faustini Sian E Faustini 3Craig Webster Craig Webster 4Joanne E Duffy Joanne E Duffy 4Martin Hewison Martin Hewison 5Adrian Shields Adrian Shields 3Alex G Richter Alex G Richter 3Dhruv Parekh Dhruv Parekh 1Aaron Scott Aaron Scott 1*David R Thickett David R Thickett 1*
  • 1 Institute of Inflammation and Ageing, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, England, United Kingdom
  • 2 Homerton College, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England, United Kingdom
  • 3 Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, England, United Kingdom
  • 4 University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham, United Kingdom
  • 5 Institute of Metabolism and Systems Research (IMSR), College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, England, United Kingdom

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Objectives Vitamin D has a role in the innate immunity against pathogens and is also involved in mechanisms for reducing inflammation. VD deficiency (VDD) may increase COVID-19 infection susceptibility, however research is limited on the association between VDD and COVID-19 symptom prevalence and duration. The study aimed to determine whether VDD is a risk factor for the presence and extended duration of COVID-19 symptoms. Methods Data was analysed from NHS healthcare workers who isolated due to COVID-19 symptoms as a part of the COVID-19 convalescent immunity study between 12th to 22nd May 2020. Participants self-reported the presence and duration of viral symptoms. Anti-SARS-Cov-2 antibodies and vitamin D (25(OH)D3) serum levels were measured on day of recruitment. VDD was defined as 25(OH)D3 levels of <30 nmol/l. Results Of the 392 participants, 15.6% (n=61) had VDD. VDD participants had more symptoms overall (p=0.0030), including body aches (p=0.0453), and extended duration of body aches (p=0.0075) and fatigue (p=0.0127). Binary logistic regression found that both VDD (OR 3.069, 95%CI 1.538-6.124; p=0.001) and age (OR 1.026, 95%CI 1.003-1.049; p=0.025) were independently associated with extended durations of body aches. VDD (OR 2.089, 95%CI 1.087-4.011; p=0.027), age (OR 1.036, 95%CI 1.016-1.057; p<0.001) and seroconversion (OR 1.917, 95%CI 1.203-3.056; p=0.006), were independently associated with extended durations of fatigue. Conclusion VDD is a significant independent risk factor for extended durations of body aches and fatigue in healthcare workers who isolated for COVID-19 viral symptoms. Vitamin D supplementation may reduce symptom duration and is thus an area for future research.

    Keywords: Vitamin D, Viral symptoms, COVID-19, Healthcare workers, Long Covid

    Received: 10 Sep 2024; Accepted: 05 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Chadda, Roberts, Lugg, Faniyi, Faustini, Webster, Duffy, Hewison, Shields, Richter, Parekh, Scott and Thickett. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Aaron Scott, Institute of Inflammation and Ageing, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, England, United Kingdom
    David R Thickett, Institute of Inflammation and Ageing, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, England, United Kingdom

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