Viral etiologies of lower respiratory tract infections in children < 5 years of age in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: a prospective case–control study

BACKGROUND: Lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in children worldwide and disproportionally affect Sub-Saharan Africa. Despite the heaviest burden of LRIs in Ethiopia, to date, no published studies have reported a comprehensive viral etiology of LRTIs among children in Ethiopia. The objective of this study was to determine and estimate the etiological contribution of respiratory viruses to LRTIs in < 5 years children in Ethiopia. METHODS: A prospective case–control study was conducted from September 2019 to May 2022 in two major governmental hospitals, St. Paul Hospital Millennium Medical College and ALERT Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Nasopharyngeal/oropharyngeal samples and socio-demographic and clinical information were collected from children under 5 years. A one-step Multiplex real-time PCR (Allplex™ Respiratory Panel Assays 1–3) was done to detect respiratory viruses. STATA software version 17 was used for the data analysis. We computed the odds ratio (OR), the attributable fraction among exposed (AFE) and the population attributable fraction (PAF) to measure the association of the detected viruses with LRTIs. RESULTS: Overall, 210 LRTIs cases and 210 non-LRTI controls were included in the study. The likelihood of detecting one or more viruses from NP/OP was higher among cases than controls (83.8% vs. 50.3%, p = 0.004). The multivariate logistic regression showed a significantly higher detection rate for RSV A (OR: 14.6, 95% CI 4.1–52.3), RSV B (OR: 8.1, 95% CI 2.3–29.1), influenza A virus (OR: 5.8, 95% CI 1.5–22.9), and PIV 1 (OR: 4.3, 95% CI 1.1–16.4), among cases when compared with controls. The overall AFE and PAF for RSV A were (93.2% and 17.3%), RSV B (87.7% and 10.4%) and Influenza A virus (82.8% and 6.3%), respectively. The mean CT values were significantly lower for only RSV B detected in the case groups as compared with the mean CT values of RSV B detected in the control group (p = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: RSV, Influenza A and PIV 1 viruses were significantly associated with LRTIs in < 5 years children in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Therefore, we underscore the importance of developing prevention strategies for these viruses in Ethiopia and support the importance of developing and introducing an effective vaccine against these viruses. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12985-023-02131-x.