The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), is an ongoing global pandemic and caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which is transmitted between people through respiratory droplets. Because of antiviral drug resistance and virus mutation, the treatment of covid-19 disease is facing a new challenge. Therefore, have been proposed that micronutrients can be used for strengthen the immune system as new antiviral strategies. Selenium plays an important role in immune function through its incorporation in antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity. There is a very strong evidence that is link between selenium status and susceptibility of humans to a viral infection. Recently published studies demonstrates that serum level of selenium was lower in patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection compared to in healthy individuals. Also, the results of these study demonstrated that the serum selenium level deficiency increased the mortality rate of COVID-19. Thus, selenium supplementation can possibly be used for the prevention or treatment of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 in selenium-deficient status.

Key words: COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Selenium, Selenium-deficient, Mortality rate