Role of viral and bacterial pathogens in causing pneumonia among Western Australian children: a case–control study protocol

Bhuiyan, Mejbah Uddin; Snelling, Thomas L; West, Rachel; Lang, Jurissa; Rahman, Tasmina; Borland, Meredith L; Thornton, Ruth; Kirkham, Lea-Ann; Sikazwe, Chisha; Martin, Andrew C; Richmond, Peter C; Smith, David W; Jaffe, Adam; Blyth, Christopher C

Both cases and controls are enrolled following the inclusion and exclusion criteria of the study (Table 2 ). Cases are defined as children attending PMH with CAP identified by their treating clinician. The operational definition of pneumonia for this study was: (a) presence of one or more of following clinical symptoms: cough, fever, or increased work of breathing, AND (b) alveolar consolidation as judged by the treating clinician; AND (c) presumed infective aetiology that requiring antibiotic therapy. Control group consists of contemporaneously healthy children attending PMH outpatient clinics or a local community immunisation clinic with no signs of respiratory illness.