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Short-course prophylactic zinc supplementation for diarrhea morbidity in infants of 6 to 11 months

Akash Malik1, Davendra K Taneja, Niveditha Devasenapathy

  • 1Department of Community Medicine, Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi, India. drakashmalik28@gmail.com

Pediatrics
|June 5, 2013
PubMed

Insights

Short-course zinc supplementation for two weeks reduced diarrhea incidence and duration in infants aged 6 to 11 months. This prophylactic intervention offers significant protection against diarrhea morbidity for up to five months.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Nutrition
  • Infectious Disease Prevention
  • Public Health Interventions

Background:

  • Zinc supplementation is known to reduce diarrhea incidence and severity.
  • Previous studies on short-course zinc prophylaxis focused on children over 12 months of age.
  • Infants aged 6-11 months experience high rates of diarrhea, necessitating investigation into prophylactic strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To assess the prophylactic effect of short-course zinc supplementation on diarrhea incidence and duration.
  • To evaluate the efficacy of zinc in infants aged 6 to 11 months.
  • To determine the protective duration of prophylactic zinc in this age group.

Main Methods:

  • A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was conducted.
  • Infants aged 6-11 months received either 20 mg zinc or placebo daily for two weeks.
  • The primary outcome measured was the incidence of diarrhea per child-year, with intention-to-treat analysis.

Main Results:

  • A 39% reduction in diarrhea episodes was observed in the zinc group.
  • Total diarrhea days were reduced by 39%, and duration per episode decreased by 36%.
  • These benefits persisted for up to 5 months post-supplementation.

Conclusions:

  • Two weeks of prophylactic zinc supplementation can significantly reduce diarrhea morbidity in infants aged 6-11 months.
  • The protective effect of short-course zinc may last up to five months.
  • This intervention is particularly relevant for populations with high rates of wasting and stunting.
Abstract

Keywords:
diarrheainfantsrandomized control trialzinc

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