Oral Zinc for the Treatment of Acute Diarrhea in US Children
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2015-06-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Diarrheal diseases are the third leading cause of mortality in the world, with nearly 2
million deaths annually among children under age 5 years. Several clinical trials of oral
zinc supplementation performed in developing country populations have confirmed this
nutrient's efficacy in reducing the severity and frequency of diarrhea. The World Health
Organization (WHO) has recommended global use of zinc supplementation in all children with
diarrhea despite little or no data from trials in industrialized/developed settings. In the
United States over 4 million children suffer annually from diarrheal illness. Although
mortality is not a significant factor in U.S. cases, 75% of all cases present to medical care
resulting in over 200,000 hospitalizations annually for diarrhea. This has significant impact
on U.S. healthcare costs, with an average of $391 per outpatient treatment and $2,549 per
inpatient treatment spent on each episode of acute diarrheal illness. The goal of this study
is to evaluate the effectiveness of oral zinc in decreasing the duration of diarrhea in
children treated as outpatients and in decreasing the duration of hospitalization in children
treated as inpatients in an industrialized country. The results of this study promise to have
a substantial impact on the management of a common pediatric health problem, and could
conceivably affect direct and indirect healthcare costs to society.
Phase:
N/A
Details
Lead Sponsor:
Boston Children's Hospital Boston Children’s Hospital