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 micronutrient supplementation on diarrhoeal disease among stunted children in rural South Africa
Background / Objective : The efficacy of zinc combined with vitamin A or multiple micronutrients in preventing diarrhoea is unclear in African countries with high prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-exposed children . Potential modifying factors , such as stunting , need to be addressed . The objective of this study was to determine whether adding zinc or zinc plus multiple micronutrients to vitamin A reduces diarrhoea incidence , and whether this differs between the strata of stunted or HIV-infected children . Methods : We analyzed data from a r and omized , controlled , double-blinded trial ( Clinical Trials.gov NCT00156832 ) of prophylactic micronutrient supplementation to children aged 6–24 months . Three cohorts of children : 32 HIV-infected children , 154 HIV-uninfected children born to HIV-infected mothers and 187 uninfected children born to HIV-uninfected mothers , received vitamin A , vitamin A plus zinc or multiple micronutrients , which included vitamin A and zinc . The main outcome was incidence of diarrhoea . Poisson regression was used in intent-to-treat analyses . Stratified analyses followed testing for statistical interaction between intervention and stunting . Results : We observed no significant differences in overall diarrhoea incidence among treatment arms . Stunting modified this effect with stunted HIV-uninfected children having significantly lower diarrhoea incidence when supplemented with zinc or multiple micronutrients compared with vitamin A alone ( 2.04 and 2.23 vs 3.92 episodes/year , respectively , P=0.024 ) . No meaningful subgroup analyses could be done in the cohort of HIV-infected children . Conclusions : Compared with vitamin A alone , supplementation with zinc and with zinc and multiple micronutrients , reduced diarrhoea morbidity in stunted rural South African children . Efficacy of zinc supplementation in HIV-infected children needs confirmation in studies that represent the spectrum of disease severity and age groups
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 .