Vitamin D supplementation TO PREVENT Covid-19 in frontline healthcare workers
… multicenter, double-blind, parallel placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial
… Frontline healthcare workers from four tertiary-care hospitals converted to COVID-19 units
… enrolled between July 15 and December 30, 2020, prior to vaccination
… SARS-Cov-2-free healthcare workers caring for hospitalized patients with COVID-19
… were not receiving supplementation with VD or other vitamins
… randomly assigned to receive VD (VDG) or placebo (PG) in a 1:1 allocation fashion for 30 d
… administered as daily 4,000 IU cholecalciferol capsules
… Six VDG and 24 PG tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 during follow-up
… no subject in VDG required hospitalization or died
… one PG participant was hospitalized with severe COVID-19 for 23 d
… None of the AEs led to treatment discontinuation
… VD supplementation is effective in preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection in high risk, frontline healthcare personnel
… this is the first controlled study evaluating the role of VD supplementation as a prophylactic measure
… favors an anti-inflammatory over a pro-inflammatory immune state
… promotes an antioxidant environment in the lungs impairing the replication capacity of the virus
… In conclusion, the findings of our study indicate that VD protects against SARS-CoV-2 infection in highly exposed individuals