Prevalence, Antimicrobial Drug Resistance and Associated Risk Factors of Streptococcus Pneumoniae Bacteria Infection Among Under-Five Children With Acute Lower Respiratory Tract Infection Attending Sheik Hassan Yebere Referral Hospital, Jig-Jiga, Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: Pneumonia is inflammation of the lung. The Streptococcus pneumoniae ( S. pneumoniae ) is commensal in the upper airway and can cause infection to under-five children. The bacteria is gram-positive diplococci, catalase negative, and optochin sensitive. The bacteria is the leading cause of bacterial pneumonia among under-five children. No similar data is reported from the current study area.

OBJECTIVE: To determine prevalence, antimicrobial drug resistance and associated factors of S. pneumoniae infection among under-five children with acute lower respiratory tract infection attending Sheck Hassan Yebere Referral Hospital from March 1 to April 30, 2021 Jig-Jiga, Ethiopia.

METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 374 study participants selected by convenience sampling method. A structured questionnaire was used to collect child data. Nasopharyngeal/oropharyngeal swabs were collected and diagnosed to isolate S. pneumoniae by using culture then identified by biochemical examination. Later antimicrobial drug resistance testing was performed by Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method. All data were entered on epi-data 3.1 then exported to SPSS version 22 to calculate analysis. Statistically significant value was found by calculating an adjusted odds ratio with p-value ≤ 0.05 in a multivariate logistic regression model.

RESULTS: Among 374 under-five children, 180 (48.1%) were males and 109 (29.2%) were from low income families. The overall prevalence of S. pneumoniae infection in the study was 18% (95% CI 14.4-22.2). No window (AOR=2.8 CI 1.1-7.6), no/non-exclusive breast-feeding (AOR= 2.1 CI 1.1-4.1), and previous URTI (AOR= 3.2 CI 1.7-6.1) were significantly associated with S. pneumoniae infection. The isolated organism showed drug resistance for Cotrimoxazole (35%), and Tetracycline (34%).

CONCLUSION: The prevalence and antimicrobial resistance in this study were comparatively high. No window, non-exclusive breast-feeding and previous URTI were associated with S. pneumoniae infection. The isolated S. pneumoniae showed high drug resistance to cotrimoxazole and tetracycline.