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Oral zinc supplements are ineffective for treating acute dehydrating diarrhoea in 5–12‐year‐olds
Author(s) -
Negi Ruchita,
Dewan Pooja,
Shah Dheeraj,
Das Shukla,
Bhatnagar Shinjini,
Gupta Piyush
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
acta paediatrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1651-2227
pISSN - 0803-5253
DOI - 10.1111/apa.12645
Subject(s) - medicine , zinc , traditional medicine , pediatrics , intensive care medicine , metallurgy , materials science
Aim Many countries have guidelines recommending the use of oral zinc in acute dehydrating diarrhoea in children aged 2 months to 5 years of age, but no guidelines exist for older children. This study tested how effective existing recommendations are in children from 5 to 12 years of age. Methods Children hospitalised with acute dehydrating diarrhoea (n = 134) were randomised to receive 40 mg of oral zinc sulphate tablets or a placebo for 14 days. The primary outcome variable was the time taken for diarrhoea to stop. Secondary outcome variables included time taken for rehydration, duration of hospitalisation and recurrence of diarrhoea in the next 3 months. Results The median time for resolution of diarrhoea was 60 h in both groups. The zinc group was marginally better, but not statistically significant, for resolution (hazard ratio = 0.89, 95% CI 0.63–1.24), rehydration (hazard ratio = 0.93, 95% CI 0.66–1.32) and hospitalisation (hazard ratio = 0.94, 95% CI 0.67–1.34). The risk ratio of recurrence for zinc versus placebo (95% CI ) was 0.65 [0.37–1.23] [p = 0.11]. Conclusion Daily zinc supplements (40 mg for 14 days) in children aged 5–12 years with acute dehydrating diarrhoea did not shorten the duration of diarrhoea or reduce subsequent episodes. Further adequately sized, community‐based trials are needed.