The effect of zinc supplementation in children under three years of age with acute diarrhea in Indonesia

Diarrheal diseases continue to be an important cause of childhood mortality in Indonesia. Dianhea leads to excess zinc losses and could contribute to zinc deficiency. Zinc deficiency in particular is known to limit regeneration of gut epithelium and consequently to delny recovery from diarrhea. To evaluate the effect of zinc supplementation in children on the duration of diarrhea we conducted a randomized, double blind, controlled tial.The treatment group received syrup incorporatin zinc acetate providing 4-5 mg elemental zinclkg body weight/day in nvo divided doses for the consecutive days during diarrhea. The control group received syrup without elemental zinc. One thousand one hundred and eighty five children under three years of age were visited at home every weekfor 12 months. During observations therewere 2410 dianheal episodes, I3l (5.4Vo) were excluded due to lack of information. Among children of zinc supplementation group there was an I IVo reduction (957o confidence intervals 3 to lSEo) in the risk of continued diarrhea. In children with watery diarrhea there was a decrease of 12% (95Vo confidence intervals 3 to 21Eo) in the number of days in the zinc supplementation group. Children who had2 3 episodes during 12 months observations had a greater reduction in diarrheal duration (hazard ratio in the zinc supplementation group = 0.79; 957o conf,dence intervals 0.64 to 0.97). Zinc supplementation in children with acute d.iarrhea significantly reduced the duration of dianhea. Reduction in the number of days may decrease the risk of dehydration and mortality due to diarrhea.