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.