מתוך medicontext.co.il
WESTPORT, CT (Reuters Health) – Zinc supplementation is linked to a substantial reduction in infectious disease mortality in infants born small for gestational age, according to a report published in the December issue of Pediatrics.
Dr. Robert E. Black, from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and colleagues assessed the outcomes of 1154 full-term low-birthweight infants in India who were randomized to receive one of four vitamin cocktails daily from 30 to 284 days of age. Two of the regimens contained zinc.
Five infants who received a zinc-containing regimen and 15 who received a non-zinc regimen died during the study. The difference in mortality was statistically significant with a rate ratio of 0.32. Supplementation with calcium, phosphorus, folate, and iron was also linked to a reduction in mortality, but the association was not statistically significant, the authors note.
Developing countries account for 90% of the 20 million low-birthweight deliveries that occur each year, the researchers note. They say the present results have important implications for improving the survival of children living in these countries.
The current findings "suggest that zinc deficiency occurs in small for gestational age infants and that the lower mortality found with zinc supplementation results from reduced rates of severe diarrhea, possibly related to enhanced immunocompetence," the investigators state.
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