Original article

Background: Diarrhoeal disease is one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality in under five children. Worldwide, there are about 1.3 million under five children deaths attributable to diarrhea. Health status in Ethiopia is one of the lowest in the world with estimated health service coverage of 60%; and diarrhoeal disease remains one of the major causes of under five morbidity and mortality. Treatment with ORS does not affect the duration and severity of diarrhoea, hence acceptance of ORS is low and diarrhoea still remains the major cause of child morbidity and mortality. Diarrhoea is a commonly associated problem in children with Zinc deficiency and also leads to excess zinc losses. Objective: To assess variations in the usage of antimicrobial and/or antidiarreals in children with acute watery diarrhoea randomized to receive zinc supplementation as compared to those who do not receive it; and assess the adherence to zinc supplementation given with ORS in the management of an episode of acute watery diarrhoea. Methodology: This is part of a multicentre, multi-disciplinary, randomized and open effectiveness trial conducted in out-patient settings in Addis Ababa, Black Lion Hospital at the Department of Paediatrics. The sample size has been calculated for a two-tailed alpha of 0.05 and power of 0.2. Children aged 2-59 months and who presented with acute watery diarrhoea for less than 7 days were recruited