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 .
Zinc supplementation reduced cost and duration of acute diarrhea in children.
OBJECTIVE To determine whether zinc with oral rehydration solution ( ORS ) is more cost effective than ORS alone in the treatment of acute diarrhea .  STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING Cost-effectiveness analysis among patients consulting the emergency room of a government institution . METHOD Cost of treatment and outcome of participants of a r and omized trial of zinc+ORS vs. ORS alone for acute diarrhea were investigated . Included were subjects 2 - 59 months with diarrhea < 7 days and no dehydration . The direct medical , nonmedical and indirect costs were obtained , using the societal perspective . The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio ( ICER ) was calculated . RESULTS Sixty patients were given zinc+ORS  and 57 were given ORS alone .  Mean duration of diarrhea was 17 hours shorter and mean total cost of treatment was 5 % cheaper in the zinc than ORS group . The ICER showed that with use of zinc , the society saves $ 2.4 per day of diarrhea < 4 days and spends $ 0.03 per case of diarrhea averted < 4 days from consult , although the confidence interval included the null value of zero . CONCLUSION Use of zinc with ORS reduced the total cost and duration of acute diarrhea . The ICER suggests cost effectiveness of zinc supplementation but there is a need to further assess the role of zinc supplementation in a larger population
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 .