Magnitude of Among Under-Five Children with Symptom of Acute Respiratory Infection at Hiwot Fana Specialized University Hospital, Harar, Ethiopia: Associated Risk Factors and Antibacterial Susceptibility Patterns.

Purpose: is the major cause of pneumoniae infection among under-five children that leads to high morbidity and mortality. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine the magnitude of in under-five children of an acute respiratory infection, assess its antimicrobial susceptibility patterns, and define the associated factors.

Methods: An institutional-based cross-sectional study was conducted on a total of 384 under-five children of acute respiratory infection attending outpatient department of Hiwot Fana Specialized University Hospital, Harar, Ethiopia, from March 1 to 30, 2020. Socio-demographic and clinical data were collected from the study participants using a structured questionnaire. Sputum samples were collected and processed to identify pathogen using the culture and biochemical tests as per the standard procedures. The Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method was used for antimicrobial susceptibility testing. Data were entered into Epi-data version 3.1 and analyzed by using Statistical Product and Service Solutions version 22.

Results: The proportion of in under-five children with acute respiratory infection was 11.2%. About 50% of isolated was resistant to tetracycline and cotrimoxazole, whereas more than 90% of it was susceptible to Ceftriaxone and amoxicillin-clavulanate. Children who lived in rural areas were 3.6 times more likely to have compared to children who lived in urban areas (AOR: 3.6, 95% CI: 1.2-11) and children with familysmokers in a house were 3 times at risk to be infected with (AOR: 3, 95% CI: 1.8-8.0).

Conclusion: High antimicrobial resistance of against tetracycline and cotrimoxazole was observed and children who lived in rural areas and live with a family of cigarette smoker are factors associated with . Therefore, providing health educations to the family of children rural residents and isolating smokers from the house where children lived are recommended actions to reduce bacteria caused by .