A new study finds that COVID-19 patients with acute respiratory infections may improve with a regimen of Vitamin D3, hydroxychloroquine, and azithromycin.
The study was published in the Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and employed a randomized controlled trial, considered the gold standard in medical research, on patients who had COVID-19-related pneumonia in a hospital in Spain. All patients were given hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin, and one group was given Vitamin D3 (calcifediol) while the other group was not. Hydroxychloroquine is an “ionophore” that can transport particular molecules across a cell membrane, while azithromycin is an antibiotic used to treat lung infections.
Of the 50 patients treated with Vitamin D3, only two were admitted to an intensive care unit. Of the 26 patients who did not receive Vitamin D3, 13 were admitted to the ICU, and two died.
One limit to the study was its small size of only 76 patients. It also doesn’t resolve the question of whether Vitamin D3 would work without hydroxychloroquine.
The use of hydroxychloroquine has been controversial since President Trump suggested using it as a treatment in March. While the drug is relatively safe, research suggests that it does not help patients who are severely ill with COVID-19. There is a debate about whether it helps patients who are in the early stages of the disease.
