Department of Pediatrics, Jundishapour University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran.
Indian J Pediatr. 2011 Sep;78(9):1079-84. doi: 10.1007/s12098-011-0458-1. Epub 2011 Jun 10.
To compare the clinical outcome of children having severe pneumonia, with and without zinc supplementation by a randomized double-blind placebo controlled trial.
In this study, 128 children (3-60 months old) admitted to the hospital with severe pneumonia were randomly divided into 2 groups (64 in each) that received either zinc sulfate (2 mg/kg/d, maximum 20 mg in 2 divided doses, for 5 days) or a placebo, along with the standard antimicrobial therapy. Primary outcome measurements included the time taken for clinical symptoms of severe pneumonia such as fever and respiratory distress symptoms to resolve, and the secondary outcome included the duration of hospital stay.
The time taken for all the symptoms to resolve in the zinc-supplemented group was significantly lesser then that in the placebo group (42.26 [6.66] vs. 47.52 [7.15] h respectively, p < 0.001). The zinc-treated group had a significantly shorter duration of fever (23.29 [6.67] vs. 26.6 [6.26] h, p = 0.024), respiratory distress (32.87 [7.85] vs. 37.37 [4.43] h, p = 0.001), required a shorter hospital stay (126.74 [12.8] vs. 137.74 [11.52] h, p < 0.001) than did the controls. The zinc supplement was well tolerated by the children.
The results suggest that adjuvant treatment with zinc accelerates recovery from severe pneumonia in young children and significantly reduces the duration of hospital stay. Further studies are required to develop appropriate recommendations for the use of zinc in the treatment of severe pneumonia in other populations.
通过随机双盲安慰剂对照试验比较儿童严重肺炎补锌和不补锌的临床结局。
本研究将 128 名（3-60 个月）患有严重肺炎并住院的儿童随机分为 2 组（每组 64 名），分别给予硫酸锌（2mg/kg/d，最大剂量 20mg，分 2 次服用，共 5 天）或安慰剂，同时给予标准抗菌治疗。主要结局测量包括严重肺炎的临床症状（如发热和呼吸窘迫症状）缓解所需的时间，次要结局包括住院时间。
补锌组所有症状缓解的时间明显短于安慰剂组（分别为 42.26[6.66]和 47.52[7.15]小时，p<0.001）。补锌组发热时间（23.29[6.67]和 26.6[6.26]小时，p=0.024）、呼吸窘迫时间（32.87[7.85]和 37.37[4.43]小时，p=0.001）更短，住院时间（126.74[12.8]和 137.74[11.52]小时，p<0.001）更短。锌补充剂被儿童很好地耐受。
结果表明，辅助补锌可加速儿童严重肺炎的康复，并显著缩短住院时间。需要进一步的研究来制定在其他人群中使用锌治疗严重肺炎的适当建议。
