Evaluation of the effectiveness of zinc sulfate in duration of common colds symptoms in children

Common cold is the most common disease in children. Young children have an average of 6 to 7 colds each year. Some complications of common cold include: secondary bacterial infections, school absence and excessive cost for treatment. The management of the common cold consists primarily of symptomatic treatment. An effective and safe drug is needed to reduce the duration of common coldۥs symptoms in children and reduce subsequent complications. In some studies zinc sulfate has showed an antiviral effect and immune enhancing activity. Therefore this study designed to evaluate the efficacy of zinc sulfate in duration of coldۥs symptoms in children. This was a clinical trial study. The subjects were children between 1 - 7 years old with common cold that attended to pediatrics clinic of Arak Amir Kabir Hospital. The study included 112 patients randomized in two groups. One group received zinc sulfate within 10 days and other group didnt receive this drug. Using a researcher made questionnaire duration of symptoms: rhinorhea and nasal obstruction, cough, sneezing, fever and duration of illness, in both groups were evaluated. Consumption of zinc sulfate significantly reduced the mean duration of rhinorhea and nasal obstruction in children with common cold (p < 0. 05). Also the mean duration of cough in zinc group was lower than the control group (p < 0. 05). Compared to the group that didnt receive zinc sulfate, the zinc group had shorter mean duration of sneezing (p < 0. 05). Also the mean duration of fever in zinc group was shorter than the other group (p < 0. 05). The mean duration of illness in patients who had received the zinc sulfate was significantly less than the other group (p <0. 05). No side effect was observed in subjects received zinc sulfate. According to the results zinc sulfate can be administered with other supportive treatments of common cold, for reduction of symptoms duration and complications in children.