Low vitamin D levels and prognosis in a COVID-19 pediatric population: a systematic review

In this systematic review of publications studying vitamin D deficiencies and COVID-19 status in adolescents, vitamin D was deficient in 46% of the patients. Those with low levels of vitamin D were more likely to contract COVID-19 and had a 5.5 increased chance of severe disease.

• Vitamin D deficiency prevalence among participants in the six studies was 45.91% (95% CI; 25.148-67.450).
• In infected pediatric patients, low levels of vitamin D increased the risk of severe COVID-19 (Odds ratio: 5.5; 95% CI: 1.560-19.515)

There were six studies including 271 patients less than or equal to 18 years of age.

• The evidence related to the effect of vitamin D on pediatric COVID is limited.
• There are more studies on vitamin D supplementation and COVID-19 in adults than children.
• There may be a difference in the benefit of vitamin D supplementation for those who are deficient versus insufficient.
• The influence of age, gender, and other confounders on vitamin D deficiency and COVID-19 were unavailable.

The systematic review showed that almost half of the pediatric COVID patients suffer from vitamin D deficiency. It is also clear that the deficiency is associated with greater risk of infection and poor outcome in pediatrics. Vitamin D supplementation needs to be explored as a preventive prophylactic, for the prevention and management of COVID-19 in children and adolescents.

• The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement was used in developing and conducting this systematic review.
• The inclusion criteria were: (1) studies in English, (2) children less than or equal to 18 years of age, (3) COVID-19 positive or negative participants
• A systematic search of the literature search was done using PubMed, CINAHL, EMBASE,
• Cochrane Library and Google Scholar databases were performed with keywords COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, COVID-2019, 2019-nCOV, 2019 novel coronavirus infection, coronavirus disease-19, coronavirus disease 2019, severe acute respiratory, syndrome coronavirus 2, novel coronavirus, vitamin D, vit D, vitamin D supplementation, children, infant, neonate, young, newborn, baby, babies, pediatric, pediatric and juvenile between December 2019 and June 2021.
• Data extracted included authors, title, country, population, study period, total cases, vitamin D status, severity of COVID-19, vitamin D supplementation, outcomes of the studies, and general consensus.
• Meta-analysis was performed for assessing the deficiency of vitamin D in pediatric patients of COVID-19.

Shah K, Varna VP, Pandya A, Saxena D. Low vitamin D levels and prognosis in a COVID-19 pediatric population: a systematic review. QJM. 2021 Nov 5;114(7):447-453. doi: 10.1093/qjmed/hcab202. PMID: 34293161.