Objective- To assess the effect of supplemental zinc on hospitalization duration in children 2 months to 5 years of age with severe pneumonia.

Background-The most significant cause of mortality in children in Pakistan is acute respiratory illness, with 20%–30% of deaths in children under 5 years attributed to this condition. Zinc deficiency is prevalent in children aged 2 months to 5 years in the developing world and is associated with various clinical problems. Studies indicates that zinc supplements for treating severe pneumonia may improve recovery time and reduce in-patient hospital stay duration.

Materials and Methods-It is Randomized control trial and sampling technique is Non probability consecutive sampling, done in Pediatrics Department, Dr. Ziauddin Hospital, Karachi, from 4th March 2021 – 3rd August. The study enrolled 140 children (2 months to 5 years) randomly into Group-A (Interventional) and Group-B (Conventional) for severe pneumonia treatment. Both received intravenous antibiotics. Group-A also got daily zinc supplements (10mg for <6 months, 20mg for 6 months to 5 years) for 14 days, following WHO guidelines. Patients already taking zinc supplements, allergy, suspected tuberculosis and SAM were excluded. The mean length of stay between the two groups was assessed using pooled-t test, and clinical investigations were evaluated independently. Correlations between clinical variables and length of stay were analyzed using the Pearson correlation coefficient. A significance level of ≤0.05 was used to determine statistical significance.

Results- In Interventional, there were 58.6% male and 41.4% female patients while in conventional, there were 48.6% male and 51.4% female patients. Mean hospitalization stay in group A was 3.57±1.63 days which is less than mean hospitalization stay in group B i.e., 4.20±1.56 days. We found significant mean difference for mean hospital stay duration among study groups (p=0.022).

Conclusion-The incorporation of zinc into the conventional therapy for management of

severe pneumonia effectively reduces duration of hospitalization in young children.

Key Words- supplemental zinc, hospitalization, Children, Severe pneumonia.