Forest plot depicting the studies included in our meta-analysis for the outcome of risk of vomiting.

<p>Red squares and lines indicate the point and 95% confidence intervals for the odds ratios (OR) and the red diamond denotes the point and confidence interval for the summary effect size. Suffixes a, b and c indicate specific zinc-treated subgroups within the indicated study. Weights are expressed in percentage.</p

Investigation of the potential contribution of continuous variables to heterogeneity across study results for the outcomes of mean diarrheal duration and risk of vomiting.

<p>(<b>A and B</b>) Results from univariate meta-regression for continuous variables as predictors of the between-study heterogeneity for mean diarrheal duration (A) and risk of vomiting (B). The statistical significance is shown as log transformed p-value and the vertical dashed line corresponds to a p-value of 0.05. Blue dots, statistically insignificant; red dot, statistically significant. (<b>C and D</b>) Bubble plots showing the influence of the dose of elemental zinc as a predictor of the standardized mean difference of diarrheal duration (C) and log odds ratio of the risk of vomiting (D). Each bubble represents a study group listed in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0010386#pone-0010386-g002" target="_blank">Figure 2</a> and the size of the bubble is proportional to the inverse-variance weights.</p

Published studies therapeutic use of zinc against in acute diarrhea.

<p>X indicates that the trial was included in the specified meta-analysis.</p><p>M1, Bhutta et al 2000 <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0010386#pone.0010386-Bhutta1" target="_blank">[9]</a>; M2, Lukacik et al 2008 <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0010386#pone.0010386-Lukacik1" target="_blank">[17]</a>; M3, Patro et al 2008 <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0010386#pone.0010386-Patro1" target="_blank">[18]</a>; M4, Lazzerini et al 2008 <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0010386#pone.0010386-Lazzerini1" target="_blank">[16]</a>; M5, Haider and Bhutta <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0010386#pone.0010386-Haider1" target="_blank">[15]</a>.</p><p>Zn, Lumber of subjects in the Zn supplementation Group; Pl, Number of subjects in the placebo Group.</p

Outcomes and summary effects related to acute diarrhea observed in published meta-analyses.

<p>M1, Bhutta et al 2000 <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0010386#pone.0010386-Bhutta1" target="_blank">[9]</a>; M2, Lukacik et al 2008 <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0010386#pone.0010386-Lukacik1" target="_blank">[17]</a>; M3, Patro et al 2008 <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0010386#pone.0010386-Patro1" target="_blank">[18]</a>; M4, Lazzerini et al 2008 <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0010386#pone.0010386-Lazzerini1" target="_blank">[16]</a>; M5, Haider and Bhutta <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0010386#pone.0010386-Haider1" target="_blank">[15]</a>.</p><p>OR, odds ratio; RR, relative risk; RH, relative hazards; WMD, weighted mean difference; RCT, Lumber of randomized control trials used; N, Number of subjects included in meta-analysis; ES, summary effect size, CI, confidence interval; d, days; h, hours; % ↓, percentage reduction.</p><p>M1 reported Q statistic and degrees of freedom and the I² statstic was derived using the formula I² = (Q-df)/Q. *, statistically significant; ---, not mentioned and not estimable.</p

Results of subgroup meta-analyses for the outcomes of mean diarrheal duration and risk of vomiting.

<p>*, Number of study groups included in meta-analysis.</p

Outcomes and summary effects related to persistent diarrhea observed in published meta-analyses.

<p>M1, Bhutta et al 2000 <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0010386#pone.0010386-Bhutta1" target="_blank">[9]</a>; M2, Lukacik et al 2008 <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0010386#pone.0010386-Lukacik1" target="_blank">[17]</a>.</p><p>OR, odds ratio; RR, relative risk; RH, relative hazards; WMD, weighted mean difference; RCT, Lumber of randomized control trials used; N, Number of subjects included in meta-analysis; ES, summary effect size, CI, confidence interval; d, days; % ↓, percentage reduction.</p><p>M1 reported Q statistic and degrees of freedom and the I² statstic was derived using the formula I² = (Q-df)/Q. *, statistically significant; ---, not mentioned and not estimable.</p

Forest plot depicting the studies included in our meta-analysis for the outcome of mean diarrheal duration.

<p>Orange squares and lines indicate the point and 95% confidence intervals for the standardized mean deviations (SMD) and the orange diamond denotes the point and confidence interval for the summary effect size. Suffixes a, b and c indicate specific zinc-treated subgroups within the indicated study. Weights are expressed in percentage.</p

Flowchart for study selection protocol in the present study.

<p>*, Type of diarrhea was included as acute or persistent.</p

Additional file 1: Table S1. of Risk factors for possible serious bacterial infection in a rural cohort of young infants in central India

Sensitivity Analyses for Multivariable Model with Outcome of Possible Serious Bacterial Infection. (DOC 77 kb

Map of 20 primary health centers in Nagpur area.

Map of 20 primary health centers in Nagpur area.</p