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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
medicine
Effect of micronutrient supplementation on diarrhoeal disease among stunted children in rural South Africa
European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 63, No. 7, Year 2009
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Description
Background/Objective: The efficacy of zinc combined with vitamin A or multiple micronutrients in preventing diarrhoea is unclear in African countries with high prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-exposed children. Potential modifying factors, such as stunting, need to be addressed. The objective of this study was to determine whether adding zinc or zinc plus multiple micronutrients to vitamin A reduces diarrhoea incidence, and whether this differs between the strata of stunted or HIV-infected children. Methods: We analyzed data from a randomized, controlled, double-blinded trial (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00156832) of prophylactic micronutrient supplementation to children aged 6-24 months. Three cohorts of children: 32 HIV-infected children, 154 HIV-uninfected children born to HIV-infected mothers and 187 uninfected children born to HIV-uninfected mothers, received vitamin A, vitamin A plus zinc or multiple micronutrients, which included vitamin A and zinc. The main outcome was incidence of diarrhoea. Poisson regression was used in intent-to-treat analyses. Stratified analyses followed testing for statistical interaction between intervention and stunting. Results: We observed no significant differences in overall diarrhoea incidence among treatment arms. Stunting modified this effect with stunted HIV-uninfected children having significantly lower diarrhoea incidence when supplemented with zinc or multiple micronutrients compared with vitamin A alone (2.04 and 2.23 vs 3.92 episodes/year, respectively, P=0.024). No meaningful subgroup analyses could be done in the cohort of HIV-infected children. Conclusions: Compared with vitamin A alone, supplementation with zinc and with zinc and multiple micronutrients, reduced diarrhoea morbidity in stunted rural South African children. Efficacy of zinc supplementation in HIV-infected children needs confirmation in studies that represent the spectrum of disease severity and age groups. © 2009 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.
Authors & Co-Authors
Chhagan, Meera K.
South Africa, Durban
University of Kwazulu-natal
United States, Medford
Tufts University
van den Broeck, Jan M.E.
Ireland, Cork
University College Cork
Luabeya, Angelique Kany Kany
South Africa, Durban
University of Kwazulu-natal
Mpontshane, Nontobeko
United Kingdom, Cambridge
Pharmaceutical Product Development
Tucker, Katherine L.
United States, Medford
Tufts University
Bennish, Michael Louis
United States, Baltimore
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Statistics
Citations: 6
Authors: 6
Affiliations: 5
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1038/ejcn.2008.78
ISSN:
09543007
Research Areas
Food Security
Infectious Diseases
Maternal And Child Health
Study Design
Randomised Control Trial
Cross Sectional Study
Cohort Study
Study Locations
South Africa