JawaPos.com – Since the emergence of the Omicron variant, the trend of the number of positive cases of Covid-19 continues to grow every day. Generally, Omicron patients have vitamin D in every package of their medicine.
So, is taking vitamin D part of prevention or medicine? The chairman of the Indonesian Allergy and Immunology Association, Prof. Dr. dr. Iris Rengganis, Sp.PD-KAI, FINASIM., said that vitamin D is a vitamin that is needed by almost all organs of the body that have receptors. The specialty of vitamin D is to regulate the immune system and increase the activity of immune cells against viruses and bacteria.
“During the Covid-19 pandemic, it is indeed recommended to meet daily needs related to vitamin D,” said Prof Iris virtually with Oxyvit by PT Dexa Medica recently.
According to the internal medicine specialist, Consultant Allergy Immunology, Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital (RSCM) Jakarta, taking 1000 IU of vitamin D3 can be done. Before consuming it, a person must do a blood check in order to know the dose.
“If it’s really low, we can recommend up to 5,000 IU a day, especially if there is an illness,” said Prof Iris.
Prof. Iris explained that taking 1000 IU of vitamin D3 once a day without checking blood is a safe dose. Taking vitamin D3 should be taken in the morning with food because it is fat soluble.
Vitamin D3 has also been included in the 4th Edition of the Covid-19 Management Guidelines compiled by 5 medical professional organizations and released in January 2022. The guideline which is a reference for health care facilities in dealing with Covid-19 explains that 1000 IU-5000 IU Vitamin D3 is used as treat patients with all levels of symptoms. Vitamin D3 was given for 14 days.
Indonesian pharmaceutical companies guarantee availability by producing and distributing 1000 IU Vitamin D3 according to BPOM regulations. Vitamin D3 also takes various forms. One of them is in the form of oil where the bioavailability is twice as good as in the form of caplets/tablets.
“In addition to Covid-19 patients, Vitamin D3 can also increase the body’s resistance so as to prevent various diseases. Vitamin D3 can also help the disease healing process,” said PT Dexa Medica Molecular Pharmacologist Raymond Tjandrawinata.
Research Around Vitamin D
According to a recent study published in the journal PLOS ONE, Vitamin D plays an important role in preventing severe symptoms of Covid-19 patients. The study involved 1,176 Covid-19 patients who were hospitalized from April 2020 to February 2021.
The study also revealed that the mortality rate of Covid-19 patients with vitamin D deficiency was around 25.6 percent. Meanwhile, the mortality rate in Covid-19 patients with sufficient vitamin D levels is much lower, at 2.3 percent.
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Editor: Ilham Safutra
Reporter: Marieska Harya Virdhani
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