Black Robert E, Fischer Walker Christa
Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Nestle Nutr Inst Workshop Ser. 2012;70:37-42. doi: 10.1159/000337393. Epub 2012 Aug 31.
Zinc deficiency has been estimated to result in more than 450,000 child deaths annually by increasing the risk of diarrhea and pneumonia mortality. Trials of daily supplemental zinc have shown preventive benefits in childhood diarrhea with a 20% reduction in incidence. Use of zinc in treatment of diarrhea has also been successful in shortening the duration of the episode by 10% and reducing the number of prolonged episodes. The World Health Organization recommends that zinc supplements be used for 10-14 days for every episode of childhood diarrhea along with oral hydration and feeding. Large-scale effectiveness trials of these recommendations in Bangladesh and India have found a reduction in hospitalizations due to diarrhea and pneumonia and in child mortality. Trials have also demonstrated a reduction in the incidence childhood pneumonia with zinc supplements and some, but not all, studies have found a therapeutic benefit of zinc as adjunctive treatment along with antibiotics as well. Preventive zinc also improves the growth of children in developing countries and reduces total deaths in 1-to 4-year-old children by 18%. Zinc supplementation is an intervention with proven effectiveness and broad application to address pneumonia and diarrhea, the two most important childhood infectious diseases globally.
据估计，锌缺乏每年导致超过45万儿童死亡，原因是增加了腹泻和肺炎死亡的风险。每日补充锌的试验表明，对儿童腹泻有预防作用，发病率降低20%。使用锌治疗腹泻也成功地将病程缩短了10%，并减少了病程延长的次数。世界卫生组织建议，每次儿童腹泻发作时，应与口服补液和喂养一起，使用锌补充剂10 - 14天。在孟加拉国和印度对这些建议进行的大规模有效性试验发现，腹泻和肺炎导致的住院率以及儿童死亡率有所降低。试验还表明，补充锌可降低儿童肺炎的发病率，而且一些（但并非所有）研究发现，锌作为抗生素辅助治疗也有治疗益处。预防性补充锌还能促进发展中国家儿童的生长，并使1至4岁儿童的总死亡人数减少18%。补充锌是一种已被证明有效的干预措施，广泛应用于应对肺炎和腹泻这两种全球最重要的儿童传染病。
