• - To measure the impact of zinc and vitamin A on the duration of diarrheal illness [ Time Frame: Weekly home visits for 6 months ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  
• - To explore whether micronutrient supplementation can decrease the nutritional insult of diarrhea and enhance immune responses to important vaccine antigens [ Time Frame: Weekly home visits for 6 months ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  

• - To measure the impact of supplementation on the outcome of acute diarrhea, particularly on the risk of persistence [ Time Frame: Weekly home visits for 6 months ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  
• - To measure the impact of supplementation on subsequent diarrheal and respiratory morbidity, and physical growth over a 12 week period [ Time Frame: Weekly home visits for 6 months ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  
• - Zinc when administered through household visits and using a programmatically more relevant delivery approach, administration by mothers. [ Time Frame: At end study ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  
• - To measure the impact of supplementation on immune response to parenteral live measles vaccine and oral live tetravalent rotavirus vaccine [ Time Frame: At baseline and end study ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  

Diarrheal disease is a major cause of child mortality in developing countries. Currently, the management of diarrhea focuses on oral rehydration therapy in acute diarrhea. However, acute diarrhea accounts for only 1/3 of the diarrhea-related deaths, the majority of the remaining being caused by persistent diarrhea. Currently persistent diarrhea treatment is complex, not yet adapted to community settings and, hence, has only a marginal impact on diarrheal mortality. A major challenge is to develop and implement cost-effective community-based interventions that can be applied to children with diarrhea to prevent persistence.

The trial was implemented in the urban slum of Dakshinpuri comprising 15,000 dwellings and a population of about 75,000. Recent data from a neighboring community indicated that childhood malnutrition, zinc deficiency, diarrhea and lower respiratory tract infection were common. Children aged 6 to 30 months were identified through a door-to-door survey. Enrollment required that the parents give informed consent and that families did not intend to emigrate. Eligible children were individually randomized by a simple randomization scheme in blocks of 8 generated by a person at Statens Serum Institut, Denmark. The zinc and placebo syrups were prepared and packaged in unbreakable bottles by GK Pharma Aps (Koge, Denmark( and labeled with unique child number according to the randomization scheme. The zinc and placebo syrups were similar in appearance, taste and packaging.

The enrolled children were randomized to receive zinc gluconate (10 mg elemental zinc/day to infants and 20 mg/day to older children) or placebo daily for a period of 4 months. All included subjects were given a massive dose of vitamin A at enrollment in addition to zinc or placebo. A field attendant administered the syrup daily at home for 4 months except on Sundays, when the mother was asked to administer it. One bottle containing 250 mL was kept in the child's home and replaced monthly.

Field workers visited households every seventh day during the 4-month follow-up period. At each visit, information was obtained for the previous 7 days on history of fever, number and consistency of stools. If the child had diarrhea or vomiting, dehydration was assessed. Information was also obtained on cough, lower chest indrawing and on their illness characteristics and whether treatment was sought in the previous 7 days.

Intervention impact was assessed on physician-diagnosed acute lower respiratory tract infections and pneumonia.