Triple phototherapy failed to reduce total serum bilirubin and shorten length of hospitalization more rapidly than double phototherapy.

BackgroundZinc deficiency is an important problem in children, especially in developing countries. Zinc supplements have beneficial effects on multiple factors, including treatment of growth retardation and hypogonadism, and they can be used as therapeutic and prophylactic agents against infection in children.ObjectiveTo determine the prevalence of zinc deficiency in 6-month to 12-year-old children in Bandar Abbas.MethodsThis study was done in Bandar Abbas in 2013. In this cross-sectional study, 583 children were evaluated after obtaining a written informed consent from their parents. Zinc levels < 6 μg/dl were defined as zinc deficiency, zinc levels of 80–66 μg/dl were defined as insufficient, and zinc levels of 80–115 μg/dl were defined as sufficient levels. SPSS software, version 20, descriptive statistics, the chi-squared test, and the t-test were used to analyze the data.ResultsFive hundred and eighty-three children with a mean age of 42.82±30.68 months participated in this study. Among the participants, 263 (45.1%) were females, and 320 (54.9%) were males. The prevalence of zinc deficiency was 17.5% in this study. Zinc deficiencies were reported in 67 males (20.94%) males and in 35 females (13.30%). Zinc deficiencies were more common in boys, and this difference was statistically significant (p=0.01).ConclusionThe results of this study indicated that the prevalence of zinc deficiencies is high in Bandar Abbas and that it is more prevalent in males than in females. The children in this area should be screened for zinc deficiency. Future studies should focus on then treatment of zinc deficiency and its role in different aspects of children’s health.

BackgroundOtitis media is one of the most common infections among children and is a complication in about 30% of common colds. The most common complication of acute otitis media is otitis media with effusion. Some studies have reported the effects of montelukast and mometasone nasal spray in treatment of otitis media with effusion. However, current information is inadequate in this issue.ObjectiveTo compare the effectiveness of montelukast and mometasone nasal spray in treatment of otitis media with effusion in children attending Koodakan hospital in Bandar Abbas, Iran.MethodsThis randomized controlled trial was done on 2- to 6-year-old children attending Koodakan Hospital in Bandar Abbas, southern Iran, in 2014. Patients were divided into three groups of montelukast, mometasone, and control group. Audiometry was done for all patients at baseline and four weeks after treatment. Patients were compared for treatment results. Data were analyzed using SPSS 21.0 software.ResultsA total of 143 children were included in the study. Mean age of the participants were 44.64 ± 18.03 months. There was no significant difference in treatment results in different treatment groups (p>0.05).ConclusionMometasone and montelukast are not effective and not recommended in treatment of otitis media with effusion in children. More studies are needed in this regard.Trial registrationThis study is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov with ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02541760.FundingThe authors received financial support for this research from Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences.

Introduction:Pulse oximetry is shown to be a reliable indicator of severity of pneumonia in children, and its use is associated with decrease in mortality of pneumonia among children. Also it is a cost-effective tool in management of pneumonia. The general objective of this study is to determine the relationship between pulse oximetry results and prognosis of children with pneumonia. Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out on children with respiratory symptoms aged 1 month to 5 years old referring to Bandar Abbas Pediatric Hospital, Iran between January and March 2016. Convenience sampling was used to select the study participants. According to the clinical signs and symptoms, as well as chest radiography, patients were allocated to one of the groups of Pneumonia or Non-Pneumonia. O2 saturation was measured at baseline, using pulse oximetry. The patients were assessed for condition at discharge, oxygendelivery device, and duration of hospitalization. Independent samples t-test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Pearson Correlation were used for data analysis via IBM SPSS version 23.0 software. A p-value less than 0.05 was considered as significant. Results: In total, 299 patients with a mean age of 14.3 ± 9.83 years were studied in two groups of Pneumonia (n=149) and Control (n=150). Of the two groups, 178 (59.5%) were male and 121 (40.5%) were female. Baseline mean O2 saturation was 97.90 ± 4.60 percent in the pneumonia group and 99.95 ± 0.57 percent in the nonpneumonia group (p < 0.001). Among pneumonia patients, saturation of O2 was significantly lower in the group of patients who died, in comparison to children who were discharged by the physician or by parental consent. (83 ± 8.27 versus 98.17 ± 3.69 and 99.16 ± 2.56; p < 0.001). Results of this study showed that there was significant difference in the saturation of O2 according to oxygen-delivery devices in pneumonia patients (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Lower initial O2 saturation is observed in the pneumonia patients in comparison to the control group, in patients with death, in comparison to discharged patients by physician or parental consent. Also, the O2 saturation was significantly different according the oxygen-delivery devices (p < 0.001). Furthermore, lower O2 saturation was associated with longer duration of hospitalization. Therefore, pulse oximetry has good prognostic role in children with pneumonia. We recommend using pulse oximetry in evaluation of children with pneumonia especially in low resource setting.