Microbiological Characteristics of Community-Acquired Pneumonia in Children in Northern Vietnam

Abstract

Background: This study aimed to identify the distribution of bacteria causing community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) among inpatients at the Respiratory Department of Hai Phong Children’s Hospital and their antibiotic-resistance properties. Methods and Results: This study analyzed data of 653 inpatients aged 2 months to under 15 years diagnosed with CAP according to WHO criteria recruited from May 1, 2022, to April 30, 2023. The most common bacterial causes of CAP in hospitalized children were Haemophilus influenzae, followed by Streptococcus pneumoniae (25.7%), Moraxella catarrhalis (12.6%), and Staphylococcus aureus (1.4%). We also found that the most commonly used first-line antibiotics for CAP, such as cephalosporins and broad-spectrum penicillins, were the least effective against these pathogens. Almost all the four types of bacteria tested (H. influenzae, S. pneumoniae, M. catarrhalis, and S. aureus) were found to be multidrug-resistant. Conclusion: The antibiogram results showed that antibiotic resistance is increasing alarmingly, particularly for first-line antibiotics. Almost all the isolates were multidrug-resistant.

Keywords

• community-acquired pneumonia
• first-line antibiotics
• antibiotic resistance
• multidrug resistance