'Weekly dose of zinc reduces risk of death among children'

The study was carried out by a team of scientists from the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease and Research, Bangladesh (ICDDRB), Centre for Health and Population Research in Dhaka and Johns Hopkins University of the US led by Dr Abdullah Brooks.

Children in Dhaka aged from two months to two years who received a weekly dose of zinc had markedly fewer deaths during a one-year period of preventive treatment. The benefits from the zinc were especially noticeable in protecting the children against fatal cases of pneumonia, said a press release of ICDDRB.

Globally, about two million children under the age of five die of pneumonia making it a leading cause of death in this age group. Previous studies, also from Bangladesh, showed that zinc could shorten the duration of pneumonia when given along with standard antibiotic treatment, but this new study found that zinc also prevents deaths from pneumonia when given regularly.

During the study from April 1999 to August 2000, the investigators treated 1474 children in Dhaka. Half of the children received 70 mg of zinc weekly and the other half received a placebo.

The children who received the zinc had somewhat fewer illness episodes of both pneumonia and diarrhoea, but most striking was an 85 percent reduction in overall number of deaths in the two groups.

There were only two deaths among the children taking zinc, but 14 deaths in those receiving the placebo.

Most of the deaths in the placebo group were due to pneumonia, but there were no pneumonia deaths in the zinc group.

ICDDRB Executive Director Dr David A Sack said, "Our centre is currently implementing a programme to scale up the use of zinc for children in developing countries. This new study by Brooks and colleagues adds valuable evidence demonstrating the life-saving benefits of regular intake of zinc.

The World Health Organisation and Unicef recommends a 10-day course of zinc (20 mg per day) as part of routine treatment for children whenever they have an episode of diarrhoea.

If this recommendation is followed, a child's diarrhoeal illness improves more rapidly, and the zinc treatment reduces the risk of subsequent episodes of diarrhoea and pneumonia, especially of fatal pneumonia."

The study was funded by the United States Agency for International Development and the Swiss Development Corporation.

The ongoing programme on scaling up the use of zinc is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.