Tuesday June 24, 2014 (foodconsumer.org) -- Scientists at Islamic Azad University in Qom Branch, Qom, Iran published a study suggesting that taking zinc supplements can help young children who receive the standard antibiotic treatment recover from pneumonia.

For the study, 120 children aged 3 to 60 months old with pneumonia were randomly assigned to receive zinc or placebo while receiving the standard treatment.

Children who received zinc supplements significantly decreased the duration of clinical symptoms and hospitalization, compared with those who did not receive the supplement.

The study concluded "Supplemental administration of zinc can expedite the healing process and results in faster resolution of clinical symptoms in children with pneumonia."

The authors also reported that zinc supplementation is generally recommended as an adjuvant therapy for children suffering pneumonia and it can reduce the risk of the development of drug resistance when multiple antibiotic therapies are used.  (David Liu)

Qasemzadeh MJ, Fathi M, Tashvighi M, Gharehbeglou M, Yadollah-Damavandi S, Parsa Y, Rahimi E.  The effect of adjuvant zinc therapy on recovery from pneumonia in hospitalized children: a double-blind randomized controlled trial. Scientifica (Cairo). 2014;2014:694193. doi: 10.1155/2014/694193. Epub 2014 May 12.