Zinc Improves Children Immune System To Fight Bacteria, Viruses: Health Experts

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 16th Dec, 2018 ) :Health experts on Sunday said that Zinc had beneficial health effects for all ages, especially in children to improve their immune system's capacity to fight invading bacteria and viruses.

According to them, supplementary zinc is beneficial for children with diarrhoea as it was a vital micronutrient essential for protein synthesis, cell growth and differentiation, immune function, and intestinal transport of water and electrolytes.

Zinc was also used proteins and DNA synthesis as it improves growth and development in children during pregnancy, infancy, and childhood, National Program Manager, Child Survival and Development Shehzad Afzal said.

He said that use of zinc supplements, at a dosage of 20 milligrams per day for children older than six months or 10 mg per day in those younger than six months, for ten days helps reduce the severity and duration of the episode of diarrhoea, and reduces the risk of a subsequent episode.

He said that with the support of Nutrition International, the Government of Sindh has trained lady health workers (LHW) and their supervisors (LHS).

He added messages related to zinc supplementation dosage, frequency of zinc supplementation, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), exclusive breastfeeding were also disseminated to LHWs, LHSs and district Coordinators in Sindh.

They have been provided with zinc dispersible tablets supplements and ORS by the government. The LHWs are capable of treating uncomplicated diarrhea however, for severe cases they have to refer the child to the nearest health facility, he added.

He said that there are multiple reasons for a child to get in the under-nutrition trap, and diarrhoea is one of the major cause.

Diarrhoea leads to excessive loss of nutrients from body even though a child may have consumed sufficient quantity of calories or nutrients.

"When a child gets intestinal infection due to a bacteria or other micro-organism, he or she develops diarrhoea. These bugs attach themselves to the lining of the intestine, and interfere with the absorption of water and other essential nutrients," Dr Khawar Sultan, a medical practitioner at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) said.

He added there are many reasons of happening of diarrhoea like most of the times, the body's natural protective mechanism helps recover the disease and overcomes the micro-organisms. Other times, the bug may be strong enough to be overcome by the body's natural protective mechanism, or isin too large of a quantity for the body's defense mechanism to clear it. "In that case the child needs to see a doctor, and appropriate treatment need to be started," Dr Khawar said.

He said that the diarrhoea is a very common condition, but treatment is very simple. If there is no blood in diarrhoea, the child may not need to be given antibiotic and only a qualified health care provider may prescribe antibiotic for a diarrhoeal episode.