Summary
Infectious diseases are associated with high morbidity and mortality rates in children in developing countries. A study conducted by several Bengali and American researchers investigated the effects of a weekly zinc supplementation on the incidence of pneumonia and diarrhea in children in Bangladesh. The study participants – children aged between 60 days and 12 months – were divided into two groups. The first group (809 children) received a zinc supplement; the second group (812 children) received a placebo product once a week for 12 months. The study found significantly fewer cases of pneumonia (199 vs. 286), diarrhea (1881 vs. 2407) and a lower number of deaths (2 vs. 14) after zinc supplementation. Specifically, no pneumonia-related deaths were observed in the supplementation group, compared to 10 cases in the placebo group. More details can be found in the study.
References
Brooks et al.