title: Bacterial Pathogens Associated with Community-acquired Pneumonia in Children Aged Below Five Years.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the spectrum of bacterial pathogens causing community-acquired pneumonia in children below 5 years of age.
  
  
  METHODS
  Children aged below 5 years satisfying the WHO criteria for pneumonia, severe pneumonia or very severe pneumonia, and with the presence of lung infiltrates on chest X-ray were enrolled. Two respiratory samples, one for culture and the other for PCR analysis, and a blood sample for culture were collected from every child.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 180 samples processed, bacterial pathogens were detected in 64.4%. Streptococcus pneumoniae and Hemophilus influenzae were most frequently detected. The performance of PCR analysis and culture were identical for the typical bacterial pathogens; atypical pathogens were detected by PCR analysis only.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  S. pneumoniae and H. influenza were the most commonly detected organisms from respiratory secretions of children with community acquired pneumonia.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Microbiology, and #Pediatrics, and *Multidisciplinary Research Unit (ICMR), Assam Medical College, Dibrugarh, Assam, India. Correspondence to: Dr Lahari Saikia, Professor and Head, Department of Microbiology, Assam Medical College and Hospital, Dibrugarh 786 002, Assam, India. lahari.saikia@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Anusmita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Das
authors.forename: Saurav J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Patgiri
authors.forename: Lahari
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Saikia
authors.forename: Pritikar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dowerah
authors.forename: Reema
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nath
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D017714:Community-Acquired Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D018410:Pneumonia, Bacterial / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction