Effect of zinc supplementation started during diarrhoea on morbidity and mortality in Bangladeshi children: community randomised trial.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the effect on morbidity and mortality of providing daily zinc for 14 days to children with diarrhoea.


METHODS
Cluster randomised comparison.


METHODS
Matlab field site of International Center for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh.


METHODS
8070 children aged 3-59 months contributed 11 881 child years of observation during a two year period.


METHODS
Children with diarrhoea in the intervention clusters were treated with zinc (20 mg per day for 14 days); all children with diarrhoea were treated with oral rehydration therapy.


METHODS
Duration of episode of diarrhoea, incidence of diarrhoea and acute lower respiratory infections, admission to hospital for diarrhoea or acute lower respiratory infections, and child mortality.


RESULTS
About 40% (399/1007) of diarrhoeal episodes were treated with zinc in the first four months of the trial; the rate rose to 67% (350/526) in month 5 and to >80% (364/434) in month 7 and was sustained at that level. Children from the intervention cluster received zinc for about seven days on average during each episode of diarrhoea. They had a shorter duration (hazard ratio 0.76, 95% confidence interval 0.65 to 0.90) and lower incidence of diarrhoea (rate ratio 0.85, 0.76 to 0.96) than children in the comparison group. Incidence of acute lower respiratory infection was reduced in the intervention group but not in the comparison group. Admission to hospital of children with diarrhoea was lower in the intervention group than in the comparison group (0.76, 0.59 to 0.98). Admission for acute lower respiratory infection was lower in the intervention group, but this was not statistically significant (0.81, 0.53 to 1.23). The rate of non-injury deaths in the intervention clusters was considerably lower (0.49, 0.25 to 0.94).


CONCLUSIONS
The lower rates of child morbidity and mortality with zinc treatment represent substantial benefits from a simple and inexpensive intervention that can be incorporated in existing efforts to control diarrhoeal disease.
Baqui
Abdullah H
AH
Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Heath, 615 N Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. abaqui@jhsph.edu
Black
Robert E
RE
El Arifeen
Shams
S
Yunus
Mohammad
M
Chakraborty
Joysnamoy
J
Ahmed
Saifuddin
S
Vaughan
J Patrick
JP
D000930:Antidiarrheals / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D001459:Bangladesh / Q000453:epidemiology; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D003968:Diarrhea, Infantile / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy*; D004403:Dysentery / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy; D005440:Fluid Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate; D015032:Zinc / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000172:deficiency
D000930:Antidiarrheals; D015032:Zinc