Selenium for COVID-19: real-time meta analysis of 12 studies (4 treatment studies and 8 sufficiency studies)

Meta analysis using the most serious outcome reported shows 34% [-40‑69%] lower risk, without reaching statistical significance. Results are similar for Randomized Controlled Trials and slightly worse for higher quality studies. One study shows significant benefit.

8 sufficiency studies analyze outcomes based on serum levels, showing 58% [38‑71%] lower risk for patients with higher selenium levels.

Control Selenium

1 RCT with 100 patients has not reported results (3 years late)1.

The European Food Safety Authority has found evidence for a causal relationship between the intake of selenium and optimal immune system function2,3. Sufficiency studies show COVID-19 associated with low selenium levels, however there is very limited and conflicting results for clinical outcomes with selenium treatment.

No treatment is 100% effective. Protocols combine safe and effective options with individual risk/benefit analysis and monitoring. Other treatments are more effective. Selenium currently has no early treatment studies. Dietary sources may be preferred. The quality of non-prescription supplements varies widely4-6. All data and sources to reproduce this analysis are in the appendix.

Fan et al. present another meta analysis for selenium, showing significant improvement for cases.