| Abstract
| - To investigate whether micronutrient supplementation could improve the vibriocidal antibody response of children to a killed oral cholera vaccine, 2-5-year-old children were randomly assigned to receive vitamin A and zinc (AZ group), vitamin A and a placebo (A group), zinc and a placebo (Z group), or both placebos (P group). All children received 2 doses of the vaccine. The number of children who had a ⩾4-fold increase in vibriocidal antibody was significantly greater in the AZ group than in the P group (P=.025-.028). Factorial analysis suggested that the proportion of children with a ⩾4-fold increase in vibriocidal antibody titer was significantly greater in the zinc-supplemented groups than in the groups that did not receive zinc (P=.013-.048) and that vitamin A supplementation did not have a significant effect. Thus, supplementation with zinc improves seroconversion to vibriocidal antibody and, hence, has the potential to improve the efficacy of oral cholera vaccine in children
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