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Zinc sulphate for acute bronchiolitis: A double-blind placebo-controlled trial
Abolfazl Mahyar1, Parviz Ayazi1, Negin Khoshbakht Ahmadi1
1Department of Paediatrics, Qazvin Children Hospital, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Iran.
Insights
Zinc sulphate supplementation can significantly speed up recovery for infants with acute bronchiolitis. This study found that children receiving zinc showed faster improvement in symptoms like coughing and wheezing compared to a placebo group.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Respiratory Medicine
- Nutritional Science
Background:
- Acute bronchiolitis is a common viral respiratory infection in infants.
- Rapid symptom recovery is crucial to reduce healthcare burden.
- Adjunctive therapies are being explored to enhance treatment efficacy.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the therapeutic effect of zinc sulphate as an adjunctive treatment for acute bronchiolitis.
- To evaluate the impact of zinc sulphate on the clinical signs and symptoms of acute bronchiolitis in children.
Main Methods:
- A randomized controlled trial involving 100 children diagnosed with acute bronchiolitis.
- Fifty children received oral zinc sulphate, while 50 received a placebo.
- Clinical signs and symptoms were assessed at baseline and at 24, 48, 72, 96, and 120 hours post-treatment initiation.
Main Results:
- The zinc sulphate group demonstrated a more favorable trend in symptom recovery compared to the placebo group.
- Significant improvements in coughing and wheezing were observed in the zinc group at 48 and 72 hours (P<0.05).
- Full recovery was achieved in 98% of children receiving zinc sulphate within 72 hours (P=0.0001).
Conclusions:
- Oral zinc sulphate administration accelerates the improvement of clinical signs and symptoms in acute bronchiolitis.
- Zinc sulphate is recommended as a safe and effective adjunctive therapy for acute bronchiolitis.
- Early symptom resolution can be achieved with zinc supplementation in pediatric patients.
Abstract:
The use of adjunctive therapies to achieve rapid recovery from clinical symptoms of acute bronchiolitis would appear necessary. This study was performed to determine the effect of zinc sulphate on treating acute bronchiolitis. In this study, 100 children affected with acute bronchiolitis were investigated. Fifty patients received oral zinc sulphate and 50 patients placebo. Signs and symptoms of the disease were compared between two groups at the time of admission and then 24, 48, 72, 96 and 120 hours after the beginning of treatment. The trend of recovery of clinical signs and symptoms was more favourable in the case group than in the control group in 24, 48, 72, 96 and 120 hours after beginning of the treatment. The significant differences were observed between the two groups in terms of improvements in coughing and wheezing 48 and 72 hours after the beginning of the treatment (P<0.05). Full recovery was observed in 49 (98%) patients receiving zinc sulphate within 72 hours of the beginning of treatment (P=0.0001). The present study showed that administration of zinc sulphate accelerates improvement from clinical signs and symptoms of acute bronchiolitis. Thus we recommend the use of zinc sulphate for the treatment of acute bronchiolitis.
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