{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,16]],"date-time":"2026-02-16T20:19:49Z","timestamp":1771273189117,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":49,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,11,25]],"date-time":"2024-11-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1732492800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Med."],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Objectives<\/jats:title><jats:p>Vitamin D has a role in the innate immunity against pathogens and is also involved in mechanisms for reducing inflammation. VD deficiency (VDD) may increase COVID-19 infection susceptibility, however research is limited on the association between VDD and COVID-19 symptom prevalence and duration. The study aimed to determine whether VDD is a risk factor for the presence and extended duration of COVID-19 symptoms.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>Data was analyzed from NHS healthcare workers who isolated due to COVID-19 symptoms as a part of the COVID-19 convalescent immunity study between 12th to 22nd May 2020. Participants self-reported the presence and duration of viral symptoms. Anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and vitamin D (25(OH)D<jats:sub>3<\/jats:sub>) serum levels were measured on day of recruitment. VDD was defined as 25(OH)D<jats:sub>3<\/jats:sub> levels of &amp;lt; 30 nmol\/l.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>Of the 392 participants, 15.6% (<jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic> = 61) had VDD. VDD participants had more symptoms overall (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic> = 0.0030), including body aches (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic> = 0.0453), and extended duration of body aches (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic> = 0.0075) and fatigue (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic> = 0.0127). Binary logistic regression found that both VDD (OR 3.069, 95% CI 1.538\u20136.124; <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic> = 0.001) and age (OR 1.026, 95% CI 1.003\u20131.049; <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic> = 0.025) were independently associated with extended durations of body aches. VDD (OR 2.089, 95% CI 1.087\u20134.011; <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic> = 0.027), age (OR 1.036, 95% CI 1.016\u20131.057; <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic> &amp;lt; 0.001) and seroconversion (OR 1.917, 95% CI 1.203\u20133.056; <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic> = 0.006), were independently associated with extended durations of fatigue.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title><jats:p>VDD is a significant independent risk factor for extended durations of body aches and fatigue in healthcare workers who isolated for COVID-19 viral symptoms. Vitamin D supplementation may reduce symptom duration and is thus an area for future research.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fmed.2024.1494129","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,11,25]],"date-time":"2024-11-25T04:23:37Z","timestamp":1732508617000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Vitamin D deficiency and duration of COVID-19 symptoms in UK healthcare workers"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"11","author":[{"given":"Karan R.","family":"Chadda","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sophie A.","family":"Roberts","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sebastian T.","family":"Lugg","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Aduragbemi 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