title: Short-course prophylactic zinc supplementation for diarrhea morbidity in infants of 6 to 11 months.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Zinc supplementation during diarrhea substantially reduces the incidence and severity of diarrhea. However, the effect of short-course zinc prophylaxis has been observed only in children >12 months of age. Because the incidence of diarrhea is comparatively high in children aged 6 to 11 months, we assessed the prophylactic effect of zinc on incidence and duration of diarrhea in this age group.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, we enrolled infants aged 6 to 11 months from an urban resettlement colony in Delhi, India, between January 1, 2011, and January 15, 2012. We randomly assigned 272 infants to receive either 20 mg of zinc or a placebo suspension orally every day for 2 weeks. The primary outcome was the incidence of diarrhea per child-year. All analyses were done by intention-to-treat.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 134 infants in the zinc and 124 in the placebo groups were assessed for the incidence of diarrhea. There was a 39% reduction (crude incident rate ratio [IRR] 0.61, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.53-0.71) in episodes of diarrhea, 39% (adjusted IRR 0.61, 95% CI 0.54-0.69) in the total number of days that a child suffered from diarrhea, and reduction of 36% in duration per episode of diarrhea (IRR 0.64, 95% CI 0.56-0.74) during the 5 months of follow-up.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Short-course prophylactic zinc supplementation for 2 weeks may reduce diarrhea morbidity in infants of 6 to 11 months for up to 5 months, in populations with high prevalence of wasting and stunting.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi, India. drakashmalik28@gmail.com
authors.forename: Akash
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Malik
authors.forename: Davendra K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Taneja
authors.forename: Niveditha
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Devasenapathy
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rajeshwari
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003906:Developing Countries; D003968:Diarrhea, Infantile / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D018579:Patient Selection; D055502:Secondary Prevention; D014505:Urban Population; D019287:Zinc Sulfate / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects
chemical_list: D019287:Zinc Sulfate
keywords: diarrhea; infants; randomized control trial; zinc