Vitamin C review finds no clear improvement in COVID mortality
Across the included studies, vitamin C did not significantly improve short-term or in-hospital mortality. Evidence quality varied, leaving uncertainty about the true size of any effect.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
The pooled evidence did not show a statistically significant improvement in short-term mortality, deaths during hospitalization or the other clinical outcomes assessed. This does not prove that vitamin C has no effect, but it leaves a treatment benefit unestablished. The abstract also provides insufficient detail to identify effects of particular dosing or delivery approaches.
This abstract-based summary cannot identify the comparator regimens, doses or routes used. Evidence quality ranged from very low to moderate, and most studies had low or unclear risk of bias.
Which outcomes were assessed
The review specified mortality at 28 days and mortality during hospitalization as its primary outcomes. Neither pooled mortality result showed a statistically significant difference. The abstract also reported no significant improvement in the secondary clinical outcomes.
Beyond mortality
Secondary measures included time in intensive care, on mechanical ventilation and on vasopressors, plus an organ-function score and an oxygenation ratio. The abstract gives no estimates for these outcomes, limiting assessment of their precision.
The original publication
Efficacy of vitamin C in COVID-19 management: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Zhou S, Gao S, Fang Y et al.
BMC Infect Dis · 2025
- PubMed ID
- 41174501
- Record checked
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