Aim. The objective was to study zinc deficiency in acute gastroenteritis and upper respiratory tract infections. Methods. A total of 203 children were enrolled in this case— control study. Plasma zinc concentrations were compared between acute gastroenteritis, upper respiratory tract infections, and the control group. Results. There was a statistically significant relationship between disease type and plasma zinc level (P = .001). Zinc-deficient children had higher odds ratio for acute gastroenteritis compared with upper respiratory tract infection. Low zinc levels were associated with lower weight measurements (r = .49, P < .001). Plasma zinc levels compared by age and gender were not statistically significant (P = .8 and P = .5, respectively). Conclusions. This study provided additional data and analysis to support the deficiency of zinc in acute gastroenteritis but our results revealed no correlation between zinc deficiency and upper respiratory tract infections.
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