Increased diarrhoeal and respiratory morbidity in association with zinc deficiency--a preliminary report.

Plasma zinc levels, in a cohort of 116 children aged 12-59 months recently recovered from an episode of acute diarrhoea attending a community health clinic in an urban slum, were related to diarrhoeal and respiratory morbidity in the 3 month period following recovery. Children with low plasma zinc levels (< 60 micrograms dl-1) spent a significantly greater number of days with watery diarrhoea (rate ratio 1.69 (95% confidence intervals 1.03-2.78)), diarrhoea associated with fever (rate ratio 1.88 (95% confidence intervals 1.05-3.34)), and acute lower respiratory tract infections (rate ratio 2.69 (95% confidence intervals 1.64-4.38)).