Association between fatality rate of COVID-19 and selenium deficiency in China

BMC Infectious Diseases

Table 1 Top 10 cities with the highest case fatality rates of COVID-19 in China

City^a	No. of cases	Case fatality rate (%)	Selenium feed level^b	Selenium soil level^c
Suihua	47	8.51	severe-selenium-deficient	severe-selenium-deficient
Cangzhou	49	6.12	moderate-selenium-deficient	severe-selenium-deficient
Shuangyashan	52	5.77	severe-selenium-deficient	moderate-selenium-deficient
Taian	35	5.71	severe-selenium-deficient	severe-selenium-deficient
Lanzhou	36	5.56	moderate-selenium-deficient	moderate-selenium-deficient
Dezhou	37	5.41	moderate-selenium-deficient	severe-selenium-deficient
Xinxiang	57	5.26	moderate-selenium-deficient	severe-selenium-deficient
Zhaoqing	20	5.00	non-selenium-deficient	non-selenium-deficient
Xingtai	23	4.35	moderate-selenium-deficient	severe-selenium-deficient
Daqing	27	3.70	severe-selenium-deficient	moderate-selenium-deficient

^aWe included only 147 cities from which at least 20 cases were reported
^bSelenium content in crops: Severe-selenium-deficient areas indicate selenium content in crops: < 0.03 ppm (ppm); Moderate-selenium-deficient areas indicate selenium content in crops: 0.03–0.06 ppm (ppm); non-selenium-deficient indicate selenium content in crops: > 0.06 ppm
^cSelenium content in topsoil: Deficient areas indicate selenium content in topsoil: < 0.18 mg/kg; Moderate-selenium-deficient areas indicate selenium content in topsoil: 0.18–0.31 mg/kg; non-selenium-deficient indicate selenium content in topsoil: > 0.31 mg/kg

ISSN: 1471-2334