{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,13]],"date-time":"2026-07-13T13:16:47Z","timestamp":1783948607256,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":41,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,3,22]],"date-time":"2024-03-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1711065600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"EDCTP2","award":["TMA 2015 CDF - 1033"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["TMA 2015 CDF - 1033"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Pneumonia is the leading cause of death in children, however, the microbial aetiology of pneumonia is not well elucidated in low- and middle-income countries. Our study was aimed at determining the microbial aetiologies of childhood pneumonia and associated risk factors in HIV and non-HIV infected children. We conducted a case-control study that enrolled children with pneumonia as cases and non-pneumonia as controls from July 2017 to May 2020. Induced sputum and blood samples were investigated for microbial organisms using standard microbiological techniques. DNA\/RNA was extracted from sputum samples and tested for viral and bacterial agents. Four hundred and four (404) subjects consisting of 231 (57.2%) cases and 173 (42.8%) controls were enrolled. We identified a significant (p = 0.011) proportion of viruses in cases (125; 54.1%, 95%CI: 47.4\u201360.7) than controls (71; 33.6%, 95%CI: 33.6\u201348.8) and these were mostly contributed to by Respiratory Syncytial Virus.<jats:italic>Staphylococcus aureus<\/jats:italic>(16; 4.0%),<jats:italic>Klebsiella<\/jats:italic>spp. (15, 3.7%) and<jats:italic>Streptococcus pneumoniae<\/jats:italic>(8, 2.0%) were the main bacterial agents identified in sputum or induced sputum samples. HIV infected children with viral-bacterial co-detection were found to have very severe pneumonia compared to those with only viral or bacterial infection. Indoor cooking (OR = 2.36; 95%CI:1.41\u20133.96) was found to be associated with pneumonia risk in patients. This study demonstrates the importance of various microbial pathogens, particularly RSV, in contributing to pneumonia in HIV and non-HIV paediatric populations. There is a need to accelerate clinical trials of RSV vaccines in African populations to support improvement of patient care.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0299222","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,3,22]],"date-time":"2024-03-22T17:28:48Z","timestamp":1711128528000},"page":"e0299222","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["Aetiological agents of pneumonia among HIV and non-HIV infected children in Ghana: A case-control study"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"19","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5066-150X","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Michael","family":"Owusu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Eric","family":"Adu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lotenna 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