A new study conducted in Spain has shown that high doses of calcifediol, the activated form of vitamin D can significantly reduce the risk of ICU treatment of COVID-19 patients.

The findings have come up as scientists are searching for an antiviral cheap drug, which can treat the patients suffering from severe COVID-19 infection.

The study


The Spanish study published in the ScienceDirect was conducted on 50-76 patients hospitalised with COVID-19. These patients were treated with calcifediol and only one of these patients required ICU hospitalisation. Rest of the patients were discharged without any complications.

People who did not get the drug, some of them were admitted to ICU and two died. “Our pilot study demonstrated that administration of a high dose of calcifediol or 25-hydroxyvitamin D, the main metabolite of vitamin D endocrine system, significantly reduced the need for ICU treatment of patients requiring hospitalisation due to proven Covid-19,” said Marta Entrenas Castillo of ReinaSofía University Hospital in Cordoba, the lead author of the study report.

Calcifediol proved to be able to reduce the risk of severe COVID infection, although more trials on large groups are required to be done to establish a definitive answer.