Antibiotic susceptibility of Kingella kingae isolates from respiratory carriers and patients with invasive infections.
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The antimicrobial drug susceptibilities of 145 isolates of Kingella kingae to eight antibiotics were determined by the disc diffusion method. In addition, penicillin MICs were determined by the Etest. Study isolates included 37 from blood, 34 from the skeletal system and 74 from respiratory carriers. All isolates were beta-lactamase negative and susceptible to erythromycin, gentamicin, chloramphenicol, tetracycline and ciprofloxacin. A single isolate exhibited resistance to trimethoprim-sulphamethoxazole, and 56 (38.6%) were resistant to clindamycin. The penicillin MIC(50) was 0.023 mg/L and the MIC(90) was 0.047 mg/L. The distribution of MIC values did not differ according to the site of isolation. (+info)
Epidemiological features of invasive Kingella kingae infections and respiratory carriage of the organism.
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The age, sex, and seasonal distributions of invasive Kingella kingae infections in southern Israel were examined and compared to the epidemiology of respiratory carriage of the organism. Medical records of all patients diagnosed between 1988 and 2002 were reviewed, and 2,044 oropharyngeal specimens were cultured on selective media during two periods (February to May and October to December) in 2001. Invasive infections significantly affected children (73 of 74 patients [98.6%] were younger than 4 years), 50 patients (67.8%) were males (P = 0.045), and 55 episodes (74.3%) occurred between July and December (P = 0.004). Carriage was higher in the 0- to 3-year-old group and decreased with increasing age (P for trend = 0.0008). Carriage rates were similar in both sexes and did not significantly differ between the February-to-May and October-to-December periods. The highest rate of carriage of K. kingae coincided with the age (less than 4 years) at which invasive infections were especially frequent. The peculiar sex and seasonal distributions of invasive disease, however, cannot be readily explained by the epidemiology of respiratory carriage. Viral infections and other yet-to-be-defined cofactors may play a role in the causation of invasive K. kingae infections. (+info)
Immune response to invasive Kingella kingae infections, age-related incidence of disease, and levels of antibody to outer-membrane proteins.
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The immune response to Kingella kingae was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, using outer-membrane proteins as coating antigen, in 19 children with invasive infection. The age-related incidence of K. kingae disease in southern Israel during 1988-2002 was calculated and correlated with serum antibody levels in healthy children. Significant increases in immunoglobulin G (IgG) levels were found in children convalescing after invasive infections. The incidence was 1.3, 40.3, 23.9, 5.7, and 1.9 cases/100,000 children among those aged 0-5, 6-11, 12-23, 24-35, and 36-47 months, respectively. A low attack rate and undetectable serum IgA and high IgG levels were found during the first 6 months of life, which indicates that protection was conferred by maternally derived immunity. The high attack rate found among 6-24-month-old children coincides with the age at which antibody levels were lowest. Low incidence of disease and increasing antibody levels were found among older children, which probably represents cumulative experience with K. kingae antigens via colonization or infection. (+info)
Osteomyelitis/septic arthritis caused by Kingella kingae among day care attendees--Minnesota, 2003.
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Kingella kingae is a fastidious gram-negative coccobacillus that colonizes the respiratory and oropharyngeal tract in children. K. kingae occasionally causes invasive disease, primarily osteomyelitis/septic arthritis in young children, bacteremia in infants, and endocarditis in school-aged children and adults. Although diagnosis of this organism frequently is missed, invasive disease is uncommon. Only sporadic, non-epidemiologically linked cases have been reported previously. In October 2003, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) investigated a cluster of two confirmed cases and one probable case of osteomyelitis/septic arthritis caused by K. kingae among children aged 17-21 months attending the same toddler classroom in a day care center. All reported within the same week with onset of fever, preceding or concurrent upper respiratory illness (URI), and refusal to bear weight on the affected limb. This report summarizes these cases and describes the epidemiologic investigation of the day care center. The findings underscore the need for clinicians and laboratorians to consider K. kingae infection in young children with Gram stain--negative or culture-negative skeletal infections. (+info)
Kingella kingae infections in children--United States, June 2001-November 2002.
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Kingella kingae is recognized increasingly as a cause of skeletal infections in children. Recent studies indicate that direct inoculation of clinical specimens into aerobic blood culture bottles (ABCBs), instead of direct plating of specimens on solid media, might improve recovery of the fastidious bacteria. Prompted by a report of a possible cluster of osteoarticular infections caused by K. kingae among children, the Infectious Diseases Society of America Emerging Infections Network (IDSA-EIN) surveyed pediatric infectious disease consultants (PIDCs) about their experiences in diagnosing K. kingae and other skeletal infections in children. This report summarizes the findings of that survey, which identified 23 K. kingae pediatric cases and indicated that 35% of responding PIDCs did not use ABCBs in diagnosing skeletal infections. Efforts to increase use of ABCBs among clinicians and laboratorians might lead to increased detection of K. kingae cases. (+info)
Identification and characterization of an RTX toxin in the emerging pathogen Kingella kingae.
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Kingella kingae is an emerging bacterial pathogen that is increasingly recognized as the causative agent of a variety of pediatric diseases, including septic arthritis and osteomyelitis. The pathogenesis of K. kingae disease is believed to begin with colonization of the upper respiratory tract. In the present study, we examined interactions between K. kingae and cultured respiratory epithelial cells and observed potent cytotoxicity, detected by both microscopy and lactic acid dehydrogenase (LDH) release assays. Experiments with synovial and macrophage cell lines revealed cytotoxicity for these cell types as well. Using mariner mutagenesis and a screen for loss of cytotoxicity, a genetic locus encoding an RTX toxin system was identified. Disruption of the K. kingae RTX locus resulted in a loss of cytotoxicity for respiratory epithelial, synovial, and macrophage cell lines. DNA sequence analysis demonstrated that the RTX locus is flanked by insertion elements and has a reduced G+C content compared to that of the whole genome. Two relatively less invasive Kingella species, K. oralis and K. denitrificans, were found to be noncytotoxic and to lack the RTX region, as determined by LDH release assays and Southern blotting. We concluded that K. kingae expresses an RTX toxin that has wide cellular specificity and was likely acquired horizontally. The possible roles for this toxin in the pathogenesis of K. kingae disease include breaching of the epithelial barrier and destruction of target tissues, such as synovium (joint lining). (+info)
Molecular diagnosis of Kingella kingae pericarditis by amplification and sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene.
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Kingella kingae is a fastidious gram-negative bacillus that is considered an emerging pathogen in pediatric settings but remains less common in adults. Here we describe a case of pericarditis in an immunocompetent adult host. The microorganism was identified directly from the clinical sample by molecular techniques, i.e., 16S rRNA gene amplification and sequencing. (+info)
Bacterial peritonitis caused by Kingella kingae.
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Kingella kingae is a commensal of the upper respiratory tract that occasionally causes skeletal infections in children and endocarditis in children and adults. We report a case of a 55-year-old man with liver disease and tense ascites who performed a paracentesis on himself and developed K. kingae peritonitis and bacteremia. (+info)