Abstract
Streptococcus pneumoniae is a leading cause of infectious pneumonia and other chronic conditions especially in children. Pneumonia causes more than one and a half million deaths annually in children. Risk factors include unvaccinated children, weakened immune system and antibiotic resistance.
OBJECTIVE:
The aim of our research is to understand the impact and prevalence of streptococcus pneumoniae among children in District Mardan in order to describe the disease occurrence and distribution.
METHODS:
The study, conducted at Mardan Medical Complex, Pakistan, from March to July 2024, sampled 464 children aged 1 to 47 months from District Mardan. Children with respiratory infection symptoms were included, while those under one month or over five years were excluded. Data were collected via Google Forms and in-person, then analyzed using SPSS version 25.
RESULTS:
The mean age of the children was 15 months, with a female-to-male ratio of 0.8. Among the 182 children, 40.5% were carriers of Streptococcus pneumonia. 79 patients were positive due to non-vaccination, 62 were having weakened immune system, 33 were having antibiotic resistance and 8 patients with multiple factors.
CONCLUSION:
These results can be helpful to understand the dynamics of Streptococcus pneumonia infection. Vaccinating children before 3 months of age is crucial in preventing the disease.