Serum zinc levels in hospitalized children with acute lower respiratory infections in the north-central region of Nigeria.

Background: Macronutrient deficiency has continued to attract significant research interest, where as the import of micronutrients like zinc has only recently become the focus of interest. Thus against the background of a dearth of data on zinc levels in Nigerian children with Acute Lower Respiratory Infection (ALRI), this study was carried out in Ilorin, Nigeria to determine the serum zinc levels in hospitalized children with ALRI.

Methodology: A comparative cross-sectional hospital based study involving 120 children aged two months to five years with ALRI recruited as subjects, and 120 age-appropriate controls without ALRI was carried out. Socio-demographic, clinical and laboratory data were obtained. The serum zinc was analyzed with a Jenway™ spectrophotometer after an initial preparation with the QuantiChrom™ zinc assay kit.

Results: The male/ female ratio was 1.6:1. The mean (SD) serum zinc level in subjects with ALRI of 18.7(11.8)µg/dl was significantly lower than the corresponding value of 53.1(18.5)µg/dl recorded in the controls, p=0.001. The prevalence of 98.3% for low serum zinc levels recorded in children with ALRI was significantly higher than that recorded in controls of 64.2%, p=0.001.

Conclusion: Low serum zinc levels are significantly associated with ALRI. There is a need to determine whether hospitalized children managed for ALRI might benefit from post discharge zinc supplementation.