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 under 5 and about 40% of deaths of infants in Bangladesh are associated with pneumonia.

S. pneumoniae and H. influenzae frequently cause pneumonia. Hospital-based surveillance at ICDDR,B and community-based surveillance at our urban field site in Dhaka studies 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.