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Abstract
Background: Pneumonia is an important cause of illness and hospitalization in young children, particularly those below two years of age. Zinc supplementation may improve immune response and support faster recovery when used with standard treatment.
Objective: To determine the efficacy of zinc supplementation in the treatment of pneumonia among hospitalized children below two years of age.
Study Design: Randomized controlled study.
Place and Duration of the Study: Department of Pediatrics, Lyari General Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan from November 2024 to April 2025.
Methodology: A total of 60 children aged 2 to 23 months with severe pneumonia were randomly allocated into two equal groups. Group A received zinc supplementation with standard antibiotic treatment, while Group B received placebo syrup with the same standard treatment. Duration of symptoms and signs relief and duration of hospital stay were compared between groups using independent-samples t-test. A p-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results: The mean age was 15.80 ± 4.41 months in the zinc group and 15.07 ± 4.62 months in the control group. Males were 60.0% and females were 40.0% in each group. Mean duration of symptoms and signs relief was 44.62 ± 1.68 hours in the zinc group compared with 48.98 ± 2.15 hours in the control group (p<0.001). Mean hospital stay was 128.31 ± 3.98 hours and 137.67 ± 4.72 hours, respectively (p<0.001).
Conclusion: Zinc supplementation significantly reduced the duration of symptoms and signs relief and hospital stay among hospitalized children below two years with pneumonia.