People lacking enough vitamin D were 77% more likely to test positive for COVID-19 than those who had enough vitamin D, according to a study recently published in JAMA Network Open.

ITM-UChicago researcher David Meltzer, MD, PhD, the Fanny L. Pritzker Professor of Medicine and his team discovered the link after looking at 489 University of Chicago Medicine patients who tested positive for COVID-19 between March 3 and April 10.

“It raises the possibility that if you take vitamin D, you might be less likely to catch COVID,” said Meltzer in The Chicago Tribune’s coverage of the findings. “It’s very inexpensive. It could be used very broadly.”

While this research discovered a link between Vitamin D deficiency and COVID-19, Meltzer and his colleagues are planning clinical trials to determine whether having that deficiency actually increases people’s risk of getting the virus.