Acute Respiratory Infections

Acute lower respiratory infection (ALRI), primarily pneumonia, is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality among children, aged less than 5 years, in Bangladesh. About 25% of all deaths of children aged less than 5 years and about 40% of deaths of infants in Bangladesh are associated with pneumonia. S. pneumoniae and H. influenzae frequently cause pneumonia. The present hospital-based surveillance in urban Dhaka was carried out to study the epidemiology of pneumonia and antibiotic resistance among bacterial pathogens of pneumonia in children aged less than 5 years for better case management, to disseminate relevant information in a timely manner, and to improve the use of such data for policy decisions, particularly in the ARI control programmes of the Government of Bangladesh.