Abstract
Acute diarrhea and pneumonia are the two largest killers of under-five children in the world. Zinc, used in management of acute diarrhea and Amoxicillin, used in community acquired pneumonia, feature in the list of 13 Life Saving Commodities for Women’s and Children Health by the UN Commission. Zinc has caught wide scientific attention for the conceptual promise it has to offer for prevention, control and treatment of acute diarrhea. This presentation focuses on author’s research on the mechanisms by which zinc might contribute to the pathogenesis of acute diarrhea and the degree of success achieved in diarrhea control and treatment by zinc supplementation including its impact on mortality. However, emerging evidence in terms of controlled studies in humans beckons a more complete understanding of the mechanistic basis for zinc supplementation. Current evidence indicates that studies specifically addressing the variability in response to zinc supplementation need to be undertaken to better comprehend these mechanisms. Similarly, the author presented her research that examined the role of oral amoxicillin in community management of severe pneumonia in children and the need to assess its universal efficacy in all children with severe pneumonia.
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Acknowledgments
The author would like to acknowledge the contributions from Dr. Hemant Kulkarni, Dr. Manju Mamtani, Dr. Michael Dibley, Ms. Neetu Badhoniya, Patricia Hibberd, Dr. Leena Dhande, Bang Aakash, Malik A, Chelliah Luke Ravi and many others who participated in the collaborative research and cited as her co-authors in the publications referenced in this manuscript.
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Dr. Hemant Kulkarni, President, Lata Medical Research Foundation, Nagpur, India; Staff Scientist II, Texas Biomedical Research Institute, San Antonio, TX, USA will act as guarantor for this paper.
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Patel, A. Zinc for Acute Diarrhea and Amoxicillin for Pneumonia, Do They Work?. Indian J Pediatr 82, 703–706 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12098-015-1712-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12098-015-1712-8