by University of Surrey

Publishing their findings in the American Journal of Clinical
Nutrition, researchers using data (up to 18 February), investigated
possible links between selenium levels in the body and cure or death
rates of those with the COVID-19 virus in China.

Selenium is an essential trace element obtained from the diet (i.e.
fish, meat and cereals) which has been found to affect the severity of
a number of viral diseases in animals and humans. For example,
selenium status in those with HIV has been shown to be an important
factor in the progression of the virus to AIDs and death from the
condition. China is known to have populations that have both the
lowest and highest selenium status in the world, due to geographical
differences in the soil which affect how much of the trace element
gets into the food chain.

Margaret Rayman, professor of nutritional medicine at the University
of Surrey, said; “Given the history of viral infections associated
with selenium deficiency, we wondered whether the appearance of
COVID-19 in China could possibly be linked to the belt of selenium
deficiency that runs from the north-east to the south-west of the
country.”

Examining data from provinces and municipalities with more than 200
cases and cities with more than 40 cases, researchers found that areas
with high levels of selenium were more likely to recover from the
virus. For example, in the city of Enshi in Hubei Province, which has
the highest selenium intake in China, the cure rate (percentage of
COVID-19 patients declared ‘cured’) was almost three-times higher than
the average for all the other cities in Hubei Province. By contrast,
in Heilongjiang Province, where selenium intake is among the lowest in
the world, the death rate from COVID-19 was almost five-times as high
as the average of all the other provinces outside of Hubei.

Most convincingly, the researchers found that the COVID-19 cure rate
was significantly associated with selenium status, as measured by the
amount of selenium in hair, in 17 cities outside of Hubei.

Kate Bennett, a medical statistician at the University of Surrey,
said; “There is a significant link between selenium status and
COVID-19 cure rate, however it is important not to overstate this
finding; we have not been able to work with individual-level data and
have not been able to take account of other possible factors such as
age and underlying disease.”

Ramy Saad, a doctor at Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton,
currently taking an MSc degree in Nutritional Medicine at the
Department of Nutritional Sciences at Surrey, commented; “The
correlation we have identified is compelling, particularly given
previous research on selenium and infectious diseases. As such, a
careful and thorough assessment of the role selenium may play in
COVID-19 is certainly justified and may help to guide ongoing
public-health decisions.”