Daily Zinc but Not Multivitamin Supplementation Reduces Diarrhea and Upper Respiratory Infections in Tanzanian Infants: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial.

What this study found

Daily zinc reduced infectious morbidity, including physician-diagnosed diarrhea (RR 0.88, 95% CI 0.81 to 0.96; P = 0.004), dysentery (RR 0.84, 95% CI 0.74 to 0.95; P = 0.006), any respiratory infection (RR 0.93, 95% CI 0.89 to 0.97; P = 0.0006), and acute upper respiratory infection (RR 0.92, 95% CI 0.88 to 0.97; P = 0.0005). The multivitamin regimen did not reduce infectious morbidity overall, although pus draining from the ears was lower with multivitamins (RR 0.65, 95% CI 0.45 to 0.93; P = 0.02). Neither zinc nor multivitamins reduced hospitalizations or unscheduled outpatient visits, and…

Study & population

Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in HIV-unexposed infants born to HIV-negative mothers in periurban Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Intervention

Infants were randomized to daily oral capsules for 18 months: zinc 5 mg per capsule, a multivitamin capsule, both together, or matching placebo.

Key limitation

The trial was conducted in a single periurban Tanzanian setting and enrolled only HIV-unexposed infants, which limits generalizability.

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