Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal

07/29/2026

Have you heard of skeletal kingae infections in children?

These infections could present with unimpressive clinical and laboratory features, requiring a high index of clinical suspicion.

Kingella kingae is a Gram-negative bacteria that lives in the nose and throat of young children, and is notoriously difficult to recover in culture unless synovial fluid and bone exudates are inoculated into blood culture vial. Therefore, unless physicians are aware of the peculiar characteristics of K. kingae disease and employ sensitive molecular assays, many cases would be misdiagnosed as non-infectious conditions, and the organism would be overlooked.

This brief Letter to the Editor suggests considering investigation of this pathogen whenever you suspect a bone or joint infection in a child.

When to Suspect and How to Diagnose Kingella kingae Osteoarthritis https://www.ovid.com/jnls/pidj/abstract/10.1097/inf.0000000000005191~when-to-suspect-and-how-to-diagnose-kingella-kingae

Pablo Yagupsky

Abstract was not provided for this article.

07/29/2026

A study reports that vancomycin-resistant Enterococci (VRE) colonization was common in a high-acuity pediatric ICU, but no clinical infections occurred in children despite frequent risk factors.

Suggesting, universal VRE surveillance may have a limited clinical value in settings with strong infection prevention programs. Instead, a shift toward a targeted, risk-based screening could be important.

Vancomycin-resistant Enterococci Colonization Without Clinical Infection in a High-acuity Pediatric Intensive Care Unit: Challenging the Rationale for Universal Surveillance
https://www.ovid.com/jnls/pidj/abstract/10.1097/inf.0000000000005176~vancomycin-resistant-enterococci-colonization-without

Emine P Kulluoglu et al. Izmir City Hospital, Turkey

Background:Routine surveillance for vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) colonization remains the standard practice in many intensive care units....

07/07/2026

Varicella vaccine evidence update:

A study among 1,947 students in Quindao, China, found that the adjusted vaccine effectiveness (VE) was 67% for one dose and 74% for two doses.

The study further reports that breakthrough cases had milder rashes and shorter fever duration compared to unvaccinated cases.

In conclusion, this study highlights the crucial role of varicella vaccination in reducing individual suffering.

Xiaofan Li, Wencheng Wang, Xiao Kang, Ping Hu, Hua Yu, Yanyan Lin, Shuxia Li, Wanjin Chen, Hongrong Wang, Feng Yang

Objective:In the context of varicella outbreaks occurring in schools, this study focused on the efficacy of the varicella vaccine and the severity of...

07/07/2026

This recent study published in PIDJ highlights that severe linezolid-related toxicities in children with drug-resistant tuberculosis typically occur after more than 3 months of linezolid treatment.
Recognizing this timing is crucial for improving safety and quality of life, and supporting future research on shorter linezolid durations for pediatric MDR/RR-TB therapy.

Sacha Horn et al.

There is little evidence about linezolid-attributed toxicity in children with drug-resistant tuberculosis. In a prospective cohort of South African...

06/28/2026

Invasive candidiasis is a significant cause of increased morbidity and mortality in children with hematologic malignancies.

The proportion of infections secondary to non-albicans Candida is increasing and carries a worse prognosis. As demonstrated in this study, patients with Candida tropicalis infection have increased risk of dissemination to the eyes, spleen and skin.

Amira M. Said et al.

emiology, risk factors, organ dissemination, biomarkers and outcomes in IC based on the species implicated and evaluate trends in antifungal resistance over time. Methods: Patients 0–18 years of age with hematologic malignancy and IC at 2 centers were included. Fifty-three patients from 2011 to 20...

06/27/2026

Neonatal brain MRI is a good prognostic tool in congenital CMV in the setting of a screening program.

In this study published by Vila-Bedmar Sara et al. from Madrid, Spain, a high proportion of brain abnormalities in MRI was found in children with cCMV identified though a newborn screening program, whereas children with normal MRI presented no long-term sequelae in the follow-up, including motor and cognitive skills at a school age.

Read full article through the link below.

, chorioretinitis and epilepsy. Methods: A prospective screening for cCMV by CMV viral load in saliva in newborns was performed in 2017–2018 in a tertiary center in Madrid. Neonatal brain MRI was performed without sedation in all newborns with cCMV and evaluated by 2 experienced neuroradiologists....

06/27/2026

Early identification of patients at high risk for hospital acquired infections (HAIs) in burned children is essential. This nomogram model, developed by authors from Wuhan China, can predict the probability of the risk of HAIs in patients using five easily accessible clinical factors, thus playing an important role in reducing HAIs rates and saving healthcare resources.

Long Tengfei et al.

Wuhan Third Hospital between 2020 and 2022 were included. The univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were adopted to ascertain predictors of HAIs. A nomogram was developed to predict the HAI risk of each patient, with receiver operating characteristic curves and calibration curves....

05/23/2026

Epidemiology of Invasive Group A Streptococcal Infections in Children in Los Angeles County, July 2023–June 2024

Alarming findings reported by this study:
Among 53 iGAS cases, 47% had potentially delayed diagnoses and 10% died.

Sherwood, Kyla; Dao, Bonnie; Gounder, Prabhu
https://journals.lww.com/pidj/fulltext/2026/06000/epidemiology_of_invasive_group_a_streptococcal.5.aspx?context=featuredarticles&collectionid=2


More info on Invasive Group A Strep:
📍Clinical manifestations include bacteremia, necrotizing soft tissue infections, osteoarticular infections, pleural empyema and toxic shock syndrome.
📍Risk factors include recent viral respiratory infection, immunosuppression (eg, HIV, corticosteroid use or diabetes mellitus) and disruptions to the skin barrier (eg, surgery).

ion for iGAS in children with repeat clinical presentations or risk factors such as recent viral infections....

05/23/2026

A new study highlights the association between early antibiotic exposure and risk of developing Celiac disease in children. The findings reinforce the need for cautious antibiotic prescribing practices in early childhood, to minimize unnecessary exposure.

Read full article here:
Early Antibiotics Usage During Infancy is Associated With High Risk of Celiac Disease Autoimmunity: A Population-based Study
Cozacov, Tal; Yackobovitch-Gavan, Michal; Guz-Mark, Anat; Shkalim-Zemer, Vered; Herman Cohen, Avner; Itzhaki Wygoda, Noam; Shouval, Dror S; Shamir, Raanan
https://journals.lww.com/pidj/fulltext/2026/06000/early_antibiotics_usage_during_infancy_is.1.aspx?context=featuredarticles&collectionid=2


More info on Celiac disease:
📍It is a common immune-mediated disorder, affecting approximately 1% of the general population.
📍While it classically presents with GI symptoms, it can also present through extraintestinal manifestations, including delayed growth, fatigue and iron deficiency anemia.
📍It primarily occurs in genetically predisposed individuals (HLA-DQ2 or HLA-DQ8 carriers) following dietary gluten exposure. However, genetic susceptibility alone cannot fully explain disease occurrence.
📍Increasing evidence suggests that environmental factors, gut microbiome alterations and GI infections play a pivotal role in disease development.
📍Relationship between early-life exposure to antibiotics and development of Celiac disease is an evolving topic in pediatric research.
📍Antibiotic-induced disruptions to the gut microbiota may play a key role in altering immune development and intestinal permeability, ultimately promoting autoimmune responses.

05/23/2026

Given the high mortality observed in Epstein–Barr Virus-associated Severe Aplastic Anemia in Children, author purposes a standardized diagnostic approach incorporating molecular virology and immunogenetic evaluation could contribute to earlier recognition of high-risk patients and potentially improve outcomes.

Pessoa, Fabrício Silva MD

An abstract is unavailable.