The effect of iron versus iron plus zinc supplementation in children with malaria
Abstract
Introduction Little is known about the potential interaction of ironand zinc given to increase hemoglobin and serum ferritin in chil-
dren with malaria.
Objective To study the effect of iron compared with a combination of
iron and zinc supplementation on children with falciparum malaria.
Method Children with positive Plasmodium falciparum (n=86) were
randomly assigned to a daily supplementation of 6 mg iron/kg per
day plus placebo or plus 10 mg zinc per day for 30 days. All children
were treated with the same regimen for the treatment of P. falciparum.
Venous blood samples were collected at the start and end of the
study. After 30 days of supplementation, the baseline and follow-up
blood samples were analyzed.
Results The increase of hemoglobin concentration in the iron
plus placebo group was 0.58 g/dl, while in the iron plus zinc group
was 0.09 g/dl (P<0.05). Serum ferritin concentration was high in
both groups before trial, yet there was no significant difference
after iron supplementation.
Conclusions Iron supplementation showed significant increase
in hemoglobin concentration in children with positive P. falciparum
treated with the same regimen of treatment. Supplementation of
iron alone as well as iron plus zinc had been proven ineffective to
iincrease serum ferritin in children with malaria.
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Accepted 2016-10-10
Published 2016-10-18