Prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among patients attending Post COVID-19 follow-up clinic: a cross-sectional study

A.A.R. Mohamed Hussein, I. Galal, M.T. Amin, A.A. Moshnib, N.A. Makhlouf, H.A. Makhlouf, H.K. Abd-Elaal, K.M.S. Kholief, D.A. Abdel Tawab, K.A. Kamal Eldin, A.M. Attia, A.E.A. Othman, J. Shah, H. Aiash

Chest Department, Assiut University Hospitals, Assiut, Egypt. jshah6@pride.hofstra.edu

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• Infectious Diseases
• Internal Medicine

OBJECTIVE: Post-COVID-19 syndrome appears to be a multi-organ illness with a broad spectrum of manifestations, occurring after even mild acute illness. Limited data currently available has suggested that vitamin D deficiency may play a role in COVID-19 cases. However, to our knowledge, no study has examined the frequency of vitamin D deficiency in post-COVID-19 cases and its effect on the symptom severity. The aim of this study is to both screen the frequency of vitamin D deficiency in post-COVID-19 syndrome patients and to study its relation to persistent symptoms.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional, single-center study was conducted involving all cases attending post-COVID-19 follow-up clinic from November 2020 to May 2021. Complete history, clinical examination, and laboratory analysis [kidney functions, serum calcium, C-reactive protein, serum ferritin, Serum 25-(OH) vitamin D] was done as well as HRCT chest.

RESULTS: The study included 219 post-COVID-19 cases, 84% had deficient vitamin D levels (< 20 ng/dL); 11.4% had insufficient level (20-30 ng/dL) and only 4.9 % reported normal level. There was no link between levels of vitamin D with either the acute or post-COVID-19 symptoms in the studied groups.

CONCLUSIONS: Despite the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among the study population, no association was observed between the levels of vitamin D and post-COVID-19 symptoms. It appears that post-COVID-19 syndrome pathophysiology involves a more complex interaction with the immune system. Dedicated clinical trials are advised to better study vitamin D levels and the related disease severity in COVID-19 patients.

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