Therapeutic and Biochemical Effects of Zinc Sulfate in Acute Diarrhea among Young Children

Omran Easa, Zuhair

	Therapeutic and Biochemical Effects of Zinc Sulfate in Acute Diarrhea among Young Children
Kerbala Journal of Medicine
Article 1, Volume 5, Issue 12, 2012, Pages 1464-1472 PDF (0 K)
Author
Zuhair Omran Easa
Abstract
Background Zinc deficiency is prevalent in children in developing countries. Supplemental zinc provides therapeutic benefits in diarrhea. Objectives: To evaluate the role of zinc supplementation in the recovery of hospitalized children on intravenous fluid for acute diarrhea. Patients & Methods: A randomized control trial of 116 cases who were admitted to Karbala teaching hospital for children from October 2007 toAugust 2008 were enrolled in our study, the children aged 3 to 60 months old were divided into 2 groups, zinc group (57 cases) who received zinc for 14 days and control group (51 cases) who did not receive zinc. Zinc was given according to WHO guideline, 10 mg daily for infants up to 6 months of age, and 20 mg daily for older infants and children. General stool examination, serum k+, Na+, blood urea, and serum alkaline phosphates were done for all patients. Results: Our study showed improvement in 16 patients (28.07% )of cases versus 5 (9.8%)in the control group ( p value of 0.013) within the1st three days of treatment with zinc and52 patients (91.23% )versus 36 (70. 58% ) [ p value 0.017] 6 days after the treatment . Conclusions: Zinc supplementation reduces the severity and duration of acute diarrhea in hospitalized children on intravenous fluid. Abbreviations: IVF: intravenous fluid; ALP: alkaline phosphatase; ORS: oral rehydration solution. Key words: Acute diarrhea, zinc, alkaline phosphatase, oral rehydration solution

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