What are the uses of zinc in children?
Currently zinc is in the treatment of acute diarrhea as adjunct to oral rehydration. A uniform dose of 20 mg of elemental zinc should be given during the period of diarrhea and for 7 days after cessation of diarrhea in children older than 3 months. Recommendations for below 3 months must await further research. Zinc is also recommended as part of routine, standard case management in persistent diarrhea and in those with severe malnutrition. Patients with pneumonia have been found to have lower blood zinc levels as compared to uninfected children. Even in well nourished children suffering from acute lower respiratory infection, serum zinc levels have been found to be lower. It is also used in treatment of Wilson’s disease. Wilson’s disease is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by failure of biliary excretion of excess copper. This excess copper causes liver or brain damage. Zinc blocks the absorption of copper and increases copper excretion in the stool. Zinc has been found t
