The Effect of Oral Zinc Sulfate on the Management of Acute Gastroenteritis in Children

Gastroenteritis is a major cause of mortality and morbidity among infants and children around the world. Zinc with increasing the absorbent capacity of enteric villous cells and decreasing the enteric gram negative bacteria and blocking chloride excretion leads to cell healing and helps diarrhea to resolve faster. The present study evaluates the effect of oral zinc sulfate syrup on infants of the city of Zanjan- Iran. In this randomized double blind trial, 400 hospitalized infants (age range of 6 to 24 months) with acute gastroenteritis were divided into two equal groups. The case group received 22 mg of daily oral zinc sulfate; whereas control group took the placebo. Data was gathered with questionnaires and recorded precisely over 10 days and then analyzed with independent statistical t-test and Mann-Whitney U-test. Findings indicated that the frequency of diarrhea in the case group was less than the control group and weight gain after 10 days in the case group was more than the control group (P<0.0001). Meanwhile, there was no significant difference in hospitalization period and duration of diarrhea. The results of this study pointed out that there is a meaningful relation between times of diarrhea and weight gain in infants with acute gastroenteritis receiving oral zinc sulfate. Thus, prescription of zinc sulfate for infants with acute diarrhea for a period of 10 to 14 days is suggested.