DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2015.v03i06.012

Pages: 2210-2219

Febrile seizure is a common illness in children in the age group of 6 months to 5 years. The role of microelements like zinc has been studied in febrile seizures previously, but fever is known to reduce serum zinc levels. The present study aims to compare serum zinc in children with simple febrile seizures and acute febrile illness. A hospital based comparative study, consisting of infants and children aged between 6 months to 5 years, 80 children each in two groups i.e. group A and group B shall be included for the study. Group-A: children with simple febrile seizures aged between 6 months to 5 years. Group –B: children with acute febrile illness aged between 6 months to 5 years. Serum Zinc estimation done in both groups by colorimetric method and compared using various statistical tests. Mean serum Zinc level was lower in group A (59.93µgm/dl) compared to group B (69.99µgm/dl), and was a statistically significant (p=0.001). Serum zinc level was lower in children with simple febrile seizures as compared to children with acute febrile illness.