Operational feasibility of implementing community-based zinc supplementation: impact on childhood diarrheal morbidity.

Objective: To determine the effect of zinc supplementation on diarrheal incidence and to discover any operational constraints of zinc supplementation at the community level.

Methods: We included 1712 children aged between 6 and 48 months in a randomized double blind study in rural area comprising of 11 villages. Children were randomly divided into 2 groups.

Impact of zinc supplementation on diarrheal morbidity and growth pattern of low birth weight infants in kolkata, India: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, community-based study.

Objective: To assess the impact of zinc supplementation on diarrheal morbidity and growth pattern of low birth weight (LBW) infants.

Methodology: In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, community-based study conducted in the Tiljala slum of eastern Kolkata, India, between 1999 and 2001, a birth cohort of 100 LBW infants was randomly allocated into either an intervention group receiving 1 mL daily dose of 5 mg of elemental zinc as zinc sulfate in vitamin B complex-based syrup or a placebo group receiving an identical placebo of 1 mL of vitamin-based syrup from birth up to 1 completed year of age. Active weekly surveillance was conducted for detection of diarrhea.

Gender differences in healthcare-seeking during common illnesses in a rural community of West Bengal, India.

This follow-up observational study examined gender disparities in seeking healthcare and in home management of diarrhoea, acute respiratory infections, and fever among 530 children (263 boys and 267 girls) aged less than five years in a rural community of West Bengal, India, from June 1998 to May 1999. Of 790 episodes detected by a weekly surveillance, 380 occurred among boys and 410 among girls. At the household level, girls were less likely to get home fluids and oral rehydration solutions (ORS) during diarrhoea.