Invited letter to editor in response to: Finland’s handling of selenium is a model in these times of coronavirus infections.

Abstract

The letter from Ulfberg and Stehlik suggests that the large difference in COVID-19 mortality rate between Sweden and Finland could be partly due to the Finns having a higher Se status due to the systematic supplementation of all agricultural fertilisers with Se since 1984. This is an interesting suggestion and contrasts with the proposal that the Finns avoided high death rates by a combination of a strong lockdown, clear communication, quick action and the closing of borders. It is likely that all these factors played a role in determining the outcome of COVID-19 infection, but we would support the view that Se status is also important. However, the preparedness of the Finnish health system and containment measures taken by Finland very much earlier during the spread of the infection differed greatly from the Swedish approach, in which no strict lockdown was imposed on the population. Although Finland observed the lowest death rate of surrounding Scandinavian countries (other than Iceland), and Sweden the highest, a comparison between Norway and Finland suggests a fairly similar mortality rate between the two countries, despite the fact that the Norwegian population does not systematically receive Se-fortified food. Furthermore, data from USA and Canada, where the soil is widely naturally rich in Se and the Se status of the population is considered optimal or high, show that in the USA, where no strict lockdown was implemented, the mortality rate was similar to the one identified in Sweden (0·0006), whereas in Canada the mortality rate was 0·0002, lower than Sweden and USA but higher than Finland. It is clear that multiple factors determine the outcome from COVID-19 and so the potential relationship between Se status and mortality rates is complex. However, our view is that a combination of raising Se status and other public health measures may be effective in keeping mortality rates low.

Rights

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Cite as

Downloadable citations

Identifiers

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1017/s0007114520003839

Repository URI

https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/1085120