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Diarrhoea and vomiting caused by gastroenteritis in children under 5 years
Evidence summary
Eight RCTs, none of them located in European countries, were identified for the effectiveness of
zinc supplementation in the treatment of acute diarrhoea in children. Although one small trial
demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in duration of diarrhoea in zinc-supplemented
children when compared with the control group, results from a meta-analysis (five RCTs) did not
find a statistically significant reduction. One study reported that statistically significantly more
children who had received zinc did not have diarrhoea at day 3 compared with placebo. Meta-
analysis performed regarding the proportion of children with diarrhoea by day 7 (four RCTs) and
Figure 8.5 Comparison of the effect of zinc versus placebo on the proportion of children with diarrhoea by day 7
Figure 8.6 Comparison of the effect of zinc versus placebo on stool frequency
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