Zinc Sulfate Oral: Diarrhoea Adjunct Dosing
Zinc sulfate guidance as an adjunct to oral rehydration therapy for acute or persistent diarrhoea in children under 5 years.
Also searched as
Source reviewed
source date listed on the source page
Guide category
Oral drugs
Safety boundary
Educational medicine information, not personal medical advice.
Kenza Health Hub presents this medicine page as structured health education. Check dose, route, interactions, pregnancy or breast-feeding considerations, and local protocol with a qualified clinician or pharmacist. Read our medical editorial policy.
Therapeutic action
Micronutrient.
Indications
Adjunct to oral rehydration therapy in the event of acute and or persistent diarrhoea in children under 5 years.
Forms and strengths
- 20 mg scored and dispersible tablet, packed in a blister.
Dose and duration
Place the half-tablet or full tablet in a teaspoon, add a bit of water to dissolve it, and give the entire spoonful to the child.
- Child under 6 months: 10 mg, half tablet, once daily for 10 days.
- Child from 6 months to 5 years: 20 mg, 1 tablet, once daily for 10 days.
Contra-indications, adverse effects, precautions
Tablets are packed in a blister. Leave tablets in blister until use. Once a tablet is removed from the blister, it must be dissolved and administered immediately.
- No contra-indication.
- If the child vomits within 30 minutes after swallowing the tablet, re-administer the dose.
- Do not give simultaneously with ferrous salts; administer at least 2 hours apart.
Source
MSF Essential drugs practical guidelines (January 2026)
This page combines source-derived medicine reference sections with Kenza editorial context, while leaving out the Storage and Remarks sections from the source batch.
Rate this guide
Be the first to rate this guide.