Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2006 Jul;91(7):573-9.
doi: 10.1136/adc.2005.086199. Epub 2006 Mar 23.

Micronutrients (including zinc) reduce diarrhoea in children: the Pakistan Sprinkles Diarrhoea Study

W Sharieff  1 , Z Bhutta, C Schauer, G Tomlinson, S Zlotkin
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Micronutrients (including zinc) reduce diarrhoea in children: the Pakistan Sprinkles Diarrhoea Study

W Sharieff et al. Arch Dis Child. 2006 Jul.

Abstract

Aims: To examine the effect of the daily use of micronutrients (including zinc) or the same micronutrients plus heat inactivated lactic acid bacteria (LAB), on diarrhoea in children compared to placebo.

Methods: A triple blind randomised clinical trial in an urban slum of Karachi, Pakistan. Micronutrients (including zinc), micronutrients (including zinc and LAB), or placebo, were provided daily for two months to 75 young children (aged 6-12 months) identified at high risk for diarrhoea related mortality on the basis of history of at least one episode of diarrhoea in the preceding two weeks. The longitudinal prevalence of diarrhoea was defined as the percentage of days a child had diarrhoea out of the days the child was observed.

Results: Mean longitudinal prevalence of diarrhoea in the micronutrient-zinc group was 15% (SD = 10%) child-days compared to 26% (SD = 20%) child-days in the placebo group and 26% (SD = 19%) child-days in the micronutrient-zinc-LAB group. The difference between the micronutrient-zinc-LAB and placebo groups was not significant.

Conclusion: The daily provision of micronutrients (including zinc) reduces the longitudinal prevalence of diarrhoea and thus may also reduce diarrhoea related mortality in young children; heat inactivated LAB has negative effects in these children.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: S Zlotkin owns the intellectual property rights to micronutrient Sprinkles. Any profit net of expenses generated from licensing agreements for the production of Sprinkles is donated to the Hospital for Sick Children Foundation.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Bern C, Martines J, Glass R.et al The magnitude of the global problem of diarrhoeal disease: a ten‐year update. Bull World Health Organ 199270705–714. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Yousafzai M, Bhutta Z.Contemporary issues in childhood diarrhoea and malnutrition. Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2000
    1. Guerrant R, Hughes J, Lima N.et al Diarrhea in developed and developing countries: magnitude, special settings, and etiologies. Rev Infect Dis 199012S41–S50. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Henry F. The epidemiologic importance of dysentery in communities. Rev Infect Dis 199113S238–S244. - PubMed
    1. Bhutta Z, Black R, Brown K.et al Prevention of diarrhea and pneumonia by zinc supplementation in children in developing countries: pooled analysis of randomized controlled trials. Zinc Investigators' Collaborative Group. J Pediatr 1999135689–697. - PubMed

Publication types