Zinc and copper supplementation in acute diarrhea in children: a double-blind randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Background: Diarrhea causes an estimated 2.5 million child deaths in developing countries each year, 35% of which are due to acute diarrhea. Zinc and copper stores in the body are known to be depleted during acute diarrhea. Our objectives were to evaluate the efficacy of zinc and copper supplementation when given with standard treatment to children with acute watery or bloody diarrhea.

Zinc supplementation for treating diarrhea in children: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Study characteristics are shown in Table 1 (29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40)(41)(42)(43)(44)(45)(46). Only three studies had a population of fewer than 100 patients, and all studies were conducted in countries considered to be "emerging and developing economies" (48).…”

“…The sensitivity analysis also showed that one study (43) contributed considerably toward the heterogeneity detected in the outcomes of diarrhea on days 3, 5, and 7. This outcome might be due to low adherence to the treatment in the study, which may have contributed to a smaller effect of the use of zinc in the population assessed.…”

Мікроелементні Порушення У Дітей, Хворих На Шигельоз Та Інфікованих Helicobacter Pylori

“…Some authors showed distinct interrelation between frequency of diarrheal disease episodes and low plasmatic level of coper and zinc. Besides, there are data proving the fact that copper deficiency is more widespread than zinc deficiency [19]. Zinc tends to be involved into competitive relations with some other metals.…”

The Efficacy of Elemental Zinc on Acute Diarrhea in Egyptian Infant and Children

“…[8][9][10] Also the expected beneficial effects of Zinc supplementation for acute diarrhea were not observed in a study on Zinc and Copper supplementation in acute diarrhea in children [11]. Also a therapeutic study from Bangladesh on infants Showed that age can modify the beneficial effect of Zinc supplementation.…”