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 in children with cholera in Bangladesh: randomised controlled trial
Objective To investigate the impact of zinc supplementation in children with cholera . Design Double blind , r and omised , placebo controlled trial . Setting Dhaka Hospital , Bangladesh . Participants 179 children aged 3 - 14 years with watery diarrhoea and stool dark field examination positive for Vibrio cholerae and confirmed by stool culture . Intervention Children were r and omised to receive 30 mg elemental zinc per day ( n=90 ) or placebo ( n=89 ) until recovery . All children received erythromycin suspension orally in a dose of 12.5 mg/kg every six hours for three days . Main outcome measures Duration of diarrhoea and stool output . Results 82 children in each group completed the study . More patients in the zinc group than in the control group recovered by two days ( 49 % v 32 % , P=0.032 ) and by three days ( 81 % v 68 % , P=0.03 ) . Zinc supplemented patients had 12 % shorter duration of diarrhoea than control patients ( 64.1 v 72.8 h , P=0.028 ) and 11 % less stool output ( 1.6 v 1.8 kg/day , P=0.039 ) . Conclusion Zinc supplementation significantly reduced the duration of diarrhoea and stool output in children with cholera . Children with cholera should be supplemented with zinc to reduce its duration and severity . Trial registration Clinical trials NCT00226616
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 .