Introduction. Acute respiratory infections such as acute otitis media, sinusitis, bronchitis, and community-acquired pneumonia are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality among children worldwide. Objective. The objective of our study was to identify bacterial agents associated with acute respiratory infections in children under 5 years. Methods. The proposed study is a descriptive, prospective laboratory-based survey of children aged from 2 to 59 months, with acute respiratory infections, hospitalized in the period 2021-2022. All 138 biological samples were taken using the nasopharyngeal aspirate technique before the initiation of antibiotic therapy. The study was carried out in the framework of the project „The impact of immunization on the morbidity and mortality of children with respiratory diseases in the Republic of Moldova” (20.80009.8007.08). Results. Moraxella catarrhalis was the most prevalent bacteria (32.3%), followed by Staphylococcus aureus (23.2%) and Streptococcus dysgalactiae (14.6%). Streptococcus pneumoniae was identified in 7.7% of cases, and Haemophylus influenzae in 9.2%. In 12.6% of cases extremely resistant bacteria were identified, such as methicillinresistant Staphylococcus aureus, Burkholderia cepacia, Acinetobacter lwoffii, and Klebsiella pneumoniae. In 20% of cases, mixed bacterial growth has been identified, while in 23.6% of cases, bacterial growth was absent. Conclusion. Our study reports the profile of bacterial pathogens among children under 5 years with acute respiratory infections. The low prevalence rates of Str. Pneumonia and H.influenzae reflect national vaccination policies. These data are essential to increase the effectiveness of public health strategies, including vaccination and prevention of antimicrobial resistance.