Diarrhea prevalence on days 3 , 5 , and 7 was lower in the zinc group .
The incidence of vomiting was significantly greater in the group that received zinc than in the control group .
CONCLUSIONS Oral zinc supplementation significantly decreases diarrhea duration and has a greater effect on malnourished children .
OBJECTIVE To up date the available evidence about zinc use for treating diarrhea in children and to assess its effect on the malnourished population , a subgroup that has not been fully explored in previous analyses .
Effect of Zinc Added to Multivitamin Supplementation Containing Low-dose Vitamin A on Plasma Retinol Level in Children—A Double-blind Randomized, Controlled Trial
In a community-based double-blind r and omized trial in children aged 6–35 months , both intervention and control groups received a multi-vitamin syrup containing vitamin A , while the intervention group had zinc gluconate ( equivalent to 10 mg of elemental zinc ) additional in the syrup . There was a significant decrease in diarrhoea and pneumonia in the intervention group . This study was undertaken to investigate if addition of zinc to vitamin A had improved plasma retinol levels , which , in turn , was responsible for the effects observed in the intervention group . In a r and omly-selected sub sample of 200 children—100 each from the intervention and the control group , plasma retinol levels after 120 days of supplementation were measured . There was no difference in the mean plasma retinol levels [ the difference in the mean 0.46 μg/dL ( 95 % confidence interval -1.42–2.36 ) ] between the two groups following supplementation . No difference in plasma retinol levels was observed in the subgroups based on baseline nutritional status and plasma zinc levels . Addition of zinc to low-dose vitamin A in this study did not improve the vitamin A status of children and can not explain morbidity effects of the intervention
Diarrhea prevalence on days 3 , 5 , and 7 was lower in the zinc group .
The incidence of vomiting was significantly greater in the group that received zinc than in the control group .
CONCLUSIONS Oral zinc supplementation significantly decreases diarrhea duration and has a greater effect on malnourished children .
OBJECTIVE To up date the available evidence about zinc use for treating diarrhea in children and to assess its effect on the malnourished population , a subgroup that has not been fully explored in previous analyses .