Plain cotton swabs (Unison Narula, India) were used to collect oropharyngeal swabs. This was done by rolling the moistened swab at the posterior pharyngeal wall behind the uvula and tonsils. After collection, samples were immediately transported to the University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Referral Hospital Microbiology Laboratory using Amies transport media (Bio Mark, India) with an ice box within two hours of collection.