High Prevalence of Asymptomatic Nasopharyngeal Carriage Rate and Multidrug Resistance Pattern of Among Pre-School Children in North Showa Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND

infection is still the world's most serious public health problem among children under the age of five. Nasopharyngeal carriage rate of has been identified as an important risk factor for the acquisition of community acquired respiratory tract infection. To date, little is known about the nasopharyngeal infection and antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of among preschool children in Ethiopia.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of nasopharyngeal carriage and antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of among preschool children.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted from September 2021 to April 2022. A total of 418 preschool children were enrolled using a multistage sampling technique. Nasopharyngeal swab was collected and transported to Medical Microbiology Laboratory at Debre Berhan comprehensive specialized hospital using skim-milk tryptone glucose glycerol transport media. The swab was inoculated on blood agar plates supplemented with 5µg/mL gentamycin and incubated at 37°C for 24-48 hours under 5% CO2 using a candle jar. Identification of was performed using Gram stain, catalase test, optochin test and bile solubility test. Antimicrobial sensitivity tests were done using a modified Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method. Data were entered into the statistical package Epi data 4.0.0.6 and transferred to and analyzed using SPSS software version-23. A -value ≤0.05 with 95% CI was considered to be statistically significant.

RESULTS

The prevalence of nasopharyngeal carriage was 29.9% (125/418). The overall rate of multidrug resistance was 86 (68.8%), with tetracycline (68.8%) and TMP-SMX (68%). Among risk factors, young age and passive smoking were associated with pneumococcal carriage.

CONCLUSION

The present study revealed a substantially lower prevalence of nasopharyngeal carriage. High antimicrobial resistance was observed for most antimicrobial drugs tested. Younger age groups and passive smokers were at risk of nasopharyngeal carriage.