Christa L. Fischer Walker|Zulfiqar A Bhutta|Nita Bhandari|Telahun Teka|Farhana Shahid|Sunita Taneja|Robert E. Black
Zinc Supplementation for the Treatment of Diarrhea in Infants in Pakistan, India and Ethiopia
Johns Hopkins University|Aga Khan University|Society for Applied Studies|Addis Ababa University|Aga Khan University|Society for Applied Studies|Johns Hopkins University
objective randomized placebo controlled trial designed assess safety efficacy 10mg zinc supplementation treatment acute diarrhea infants methods total 1110 infants aged 28 days 5 months acute diarrhea enrolled randomized receive either zinc n 554 placebo n 556 14 days diarrhea history anthropometric status breastfeeding status socioeconomic indicators assessed baseline homes infants visited every 3 days diarrhea episode number stools presence blood additional illnesses recorded daily results geometric mean duration diarrhea episode 021 days longer among infants receiving zinc versus receiving placebo statistically significant difference observed controlling sex exclusive breastfeeding length age z score differences subgroup ie sex baseline length age z score exclusive breastfeeding site controlling remaining subgroup variables differences reported stool frequency among proportion episodes lasting longer 7 days rates vomiting similar zinc placebo groups conclusions young infants appear benefit zinc supplementation treatment diarrhea