Zinc for Children with Acute Diarrhea
Four thousand five hundred children (aged 6-59 months) in India or Tanzania who were experiencing acute diarrhea were randomly assigned to receive 5, 10, or 20 mg of zinc (as zinc sulfate) once a day for 14 days. The percentage of children who had diarrhea for more than 5 days was 6.5% with 20 mg, 7.7% with 10 mg, and 7.2% with 5 mg. The difference between groups was below the noninferiority margin of 4 percentage points. The mean number of diarrheal stools was 10.7 with 20 mg, 10.9 with 10 mg, and 10.8 with 5 mg. The difference between groups was below the noninferiority margin of 2 stools. Vomiting within 30 minutes after administration occurred in 19.3%, 15.6%, and 13.7% of patients after 20, 10, and 5 mg, respectively. The risk of vomiting was significantly lower by 19% with 10 mg than with 20 mg and significantly lower by 29% with 5 mg than with 20 mg. Lower zinc doses were also associated with less vomiting beyond 30 minutes after administration.









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