OUTCOME OF ZINC SUPPLEMENTATION AS ADJUVANT THERAPY IN TREATMENT OF HIGH PROBABLE NEONATAL SEPSIS

Abstract

Background: Neonatal sepsis is a primary cause of morbidity and mortality all over the world, especially low and middle income countries. Zinc is a vital trace mineral that plays a role in immune function, cellular structure, antioxidant and inflammatory processes. It could be used as an adjunctive treatment to conventional antimicrobial treatment to enhance healing in neonates with sepsis. Objective: To compare outcome of zinc supplementation as adjuvant therapy to antibiotic than antibiotic alone in treatment of high probable neonatal sepsis. Methods: This was a randomized controlled trial that was carried out at Department of Pediatrics, Ghurki Trust Teaching Hospital, Lahore from July 2025 to October 2025. 102 neonates meeting the pre-established criteria for HPNS were recruited and randomly assigned to intervention groups who received a course of standard antibiotic treatment plus oral/nasogastric zinc sulphate (2–3 mg/kg/day) or control groups who received a course of standard antibiotic treatment alone. The primary outcome was resolution of sepsis, defined as “no sepsis,” and evaluated on days 5, 10 and 15 based on clinical and laboratory parameters. Data was analysed with SPSS version 26. Results: No sepsis was recorded for 19.6% of the neonates in the zinc group and 11.8% of the neonates in the control group at day 5 (p=0.276). The corresponding rates increased to 45.1% versus 23.5% on day 10 (p=0.022) and 68.6% versus 39.2% on day 15 (p=0.003). Conclusion: When combined with conventional antibiotic treatment, there was a significant difference in favour of adjuncted zinc in sepsis resolution at day 10 and 15. Additional well powered multi-centre studies are necessary to validate and validate the role of zinc in the treatment of neonatal sepsis.