Estimation of Zinc Levels in Children With Lower Respiratory Tract Infections: A Prospective Observational Study from India.
Zinc is an essential mineral that is involved in numerous aspects of cellular metabolism. It is required for maintaining intestinal cells, bone growth and immune function. It is second to iron as the most abundant trace element in the body. Zinc deficient children are at increased risk of restricted growth and developing diarrheal diseases and respiratory tract infections.
In our study 72% of the studied patients had anemia and we observed a statistical difference between serum zinc level of patients with and without anemia, where the mean of zinc with anemia was 50.7±27.0 microgram/dL and without anemia was 76.4±27.2 microgram/dL (p value is 0.004). It is similar to other reports. Turgut S, et al17 studied the Interaction between anemia and blood levels of iron, zinc, copper, cadmium and lead in children and reported that levels of copper, cadmium and lead in serum were significantly higher in children with IDA than those of controls
Another study by da Silva R et al20 on the relationship between nutritional status, vitamin A and zinc levels and oxidative stress in patients with ataxia-telangiectasia. Authors reported that ataxia-telangiectasia patients showed high rates of malnutrition with reduced lean body mass when compared to the control group. However, serum zinc in Ataxia-telangiectasia (AT) patients was similar to those of the control group. The AT patients assessed showed no change in nutritional status for vitamin A and zinc.
Pediatr Neonatal Nurs Open J. 2016; 2(3): 91-98. doi: 10.17140/PNNOJ-2-115
