Abstract:
The Strepto coccus pneumoniae (SP) is involve in ca using pneumo coccal disease such as pneumo nia , bacteremia and meningitis globally, specif ically in developing countries. This study was planned to investiga te the po tential risks involve in coloniza tio n of the S. pneumo niae in ch ildren. Fo r the purpose, naso pharyngeal sa mples were collected f ro m children under 5 yea rs. A pre-designed questio nna ire was developed, consist of demog raphic data such as age, gender, pa rent's occupation, the risk facto rs l ike schooling, siblings liv ing together, exposure to passive smok ing. In a dditio n, awareness based questions such as knowledge about pneumo coccal disease were also included. Prel imina ry, analysis revealed that close co ntact in house and smok ing a re the key facto rs in the transmissio n and ca rriage of pneumoco ccal disease. Abo ut 27.4% pa rticipants were ex posed to toba cco smok ing. The frequency of living together was higher (39.6%) in pa rticipants, 5-6 chil dren liv ing together in a single roo m. About 60.4% of the gua rdians o r pa rents h a d no t knowledge about pneumoco ccal disease. Major number of the chil dren were vaccinated however, 25.4% of the pa rticipants were still no t vaccinated against pneumo coccal disease. Data showed that majority of the pa rticipa nts were fro m ethnic g roup of Pashtoon (79.87%). In conclusion, results showed that naso pha rynx is a n ecological niche fo r pneumoco ccal colonization a nd the described risk facto rs facilitates S. pneumoniae to colonize in the upper respirato ry tract and causes disease.
Keywords:
Risk Factors
,
pneumonia
,
meningitis
,
Colonization
,
Streptococcus pneumoniae
,
Carriage