Protection Against Malaria - Zinc Supplements Make No Difference To Children

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Academic Journal
Main Category: Tropical Diseases
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Article Date: 25 Nov 2011 - 7:00 PST


According to an investigation published in the week's PLoS Medicine, young children in Tanzania are not protected against malaria by taking zinc supplements either alone or in conjunction with other multi-nutrients. The investigation was led by Hans Verhoef, who works at Wageningen University, the Netherlands, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Zinc is an important mineral that helps to maintain a healthy immune system. Prior investigations demonstrated that zinc helps to reduce diarrhea. As the majority of children in Africa are deficient in zinc, the researchers decided to examine the potential role for zinc supplementation in protecting against the deadly disease prevalent in Africa - malaria.

612 children between the ages of 6 months to 5 years from a rural area of Tanzania were randomly assigned to receive either daily oral supplements of zinc alone, multi-nutrients with zinc, multi-nutrients without zinc, or placebo. The researchers discovered that the prevalence of malaria in all four groups were very similar (approximately 3 episodes per year). Although zinc deficiency rates were significantly reduced among participants who received zinc supplementation, none of the supplements had any effect on malaria rates when compared to the placebo.

In an additional examination, the authors stated that multi-nutrient supplementation may be harmful, as it increased the risk of children with iron-deficiency catching malaria.

They explain:

"Despite a high prevalence of zinc deficiency, excellent compliance, and few drop-outs, we found no evidence from this trial that preventive zinc supplementation, alone or with multi-nutrients, reduced rates of febrile attacks of malaria.

We have presented evidence that multi-nutrient supplementation may increase the risk of malaria in children with iron deficiency, strengthening earlier concerns about the safety of multi-nutrient supplementation in malaria-endemic areas, even in settings with good access to health care and appropriate treatment."

Written by Grace Rattue
Copyright: Medical News Today
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