Investigating the Efficacy of Zinc and Vitamin A in Treating Pediatric Community-Acquired Pneumonia.
Cureus
; 16(1): e52197, 2024 Jan.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38348004
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) poses a significant global health challenge, even more so for children less than five years old. Nutritional interventions, such as zinc and vitamin A supplementation, are gaining attention for their therapeutic potential in enhancing recovery and minimizing pneumonia severity in pediatric patients.OBJECTIVE:
To assess the therapeutic benefits of zinc and vitamin A supplementation in pediatric CAP patients under five years old and to advocate for their use in clinical settings.METHODOLOGY:
Three groups were formed in a randomized controlled trial conducted from October 2022 to September 2023, to address zinc and vitamin A supplementation in pediatric patients under five years old in the intensive care unit with severe pneumonia. Group 1 received zinc supplementation, group 2 received vitamin A supplementation, and group 3 served as the control group, receiving antibiotic treatment exclusively for pneumonia. This treatment comprised either a ß-lactam (amoxicillin-clavulanate, commonly referred to as Augmentin) administered orally at 500 mg/125 mg three times a day, Augmentin 875 mg/125 mg orally twice daily, or Augmentin 2000 mg/125 mg orally once daily. Additionally, the control group received a macrolide (azithromycin or clarithromycin) or doxycycline at a dosage of 100 mg orally twice daily. Linear regression analysis identified statistically significant decreases in both length of hospital stay and active pneumonic effusion.RESULTS:
The study encompassed 90 pediatric pneumonia patients with an age range of six to 55 months. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that both vitamin A and zinc led to a significant decrease in hospitalization length by 2.39 days (p < 0.01, 95% CI 4.19-0.47) and 3.17 days (p < 0.01, 95% CI 5.19-1.31), respectively. In comparison to the control group, both the vitamin A and zinc supplementation groups were linked to a shorter pneumonic effusion duration (p < 0.001).CONCLUSION:
Both interventions significantly reduced the duration of hospitalization (2.39 days for vitamin A and 3.17 days for zinc) and pneumonic effusion compared to the control group. These findings highlight the potential of zinc and vitamin A as valuable additions to standard CAP treatment regimens, potentially leading to improved clinical outcomes and reduced healthcare burdens.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Type of study:
Clinical_trials
/
Prognostic_studies
Language:
En
Journal:
Cureus
Year:
2024
Document type:
Article
Country of publication:
Estados Unidos