A prospective study of effect of zinc as adjuvant therapy in acute pneumonia in children under 5 year of age

Introduction: It is has been observed from the work of various author that zinc deficiency is associated impaired growth and immune function. Trail for evaluation of efficacy of zinc as an adjuvant to therapy in children with mild to moderate zinc deficiency has been conducted. Some study has suggested that it is associated with accelerated recovery and reduced duration of hospital stay, but so many trail in India have found no effect. The present study was undertaken to study the effect of zinc as on adjuvant therapy in acute pneumonia beside standard anti-microbial agent in children below 5 year of age. Materials and Methods: About 116 children under five years of age were enrolled for this study based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. They were grouped in to two study groups by stratified randomisation. Each group consists of 55 children and 6 children were, dropped from the study. Result: The mean time of resolution of distress was higher in group B than group A that is 60.48 VS 48.42 having P value 0.2840 which is not significant statistically. The mean duration of oxygen use was 20.42 hr in group A and 36.42hrs in group B with P value 0.4326 which is not significant. Patients in group A has taken less time to become asymptomatic that is (64.27 hrs versus 52.73 hrs) but this difference is not significant (P=0.138006). The duration of stay of group B patients were significantly higher than group A (8.13 hrs vs 7.2hr) with P value 0.021274. Discussion and Conclusion: From our study we would like to conclude from our result that adjuvant treatment with 20 mg zinc per day along with antibiotic is associated with accelerated achievement of saturation above 90% and reduced duration of stay in hospital.