Zinc supplementation may be helpful to Prevent Otitis Media in Children

Otitis media (inflammation of the middle ear, usually caused by infection) of people of all ages, but particularly in children. Approximately 164 million people worldwide suffer from hearing loss caused by this condition. Ninety percent were in poor countries. Because zinc supplementation can prevent pneumonia, researchers are also wondering whether zinc can also prevent otitis media.

Zinc is an important micronutrient that plays a role in optimizing the function of the immune system and body strength to resist infection. Some people, especially children in developing countries and poor countries, does not have an adequate intake of zinc from their diet. Researchers therefore conducted a study on the potential role of zinc supplementation in preventing infectious diseases, including middle ear infections.
One of the data on the use of zinc for middle ear infection is a systemic review conducted by Abba, K. et al, published in the Chocrane in 2010. This review identified a total of 12 clinical trials, where 10 of which provide output data. In clinical trials in healthy children living in low-income communities, two clinical trials showed significant differences between groups of zinc supplementation and placebo groups in terms of number of study subjects who experienced otitis media during the follow-up (3191 subjects), while other clinical trials showed significant reduction in the incidence of otitis media in the zinc group (RR 0.69, 95% CI 0.61 to 0.79, n = 1621). Small clinical trial in 39 infants who underwent treatment for severe malnutrition showed the importance of zinc in the episode of otitis media (mean difference -1.12 episodes, 95% CI -22.1 - -0.03). Zinc supplementation does not seem to cause serious side effects, but a small number of children reported that they vomited shortly after taking zinc supplements.

So the researchers concluded that the evidence whether zinc supplementation can reduce the incidence of otitis media in healthy children less than 5 years living in low-income countries and in middle-income countries is mixed. There is evidence of the benefits to be had children who were treated marasmusnya, but is based on small clinical trials and therefore should be treated with care.