Throat Microbe Can Cause Bone Infections in Kids

Kingella kingae, a usually harmless microbe that can grow in the throat, is increasingly being recognized as a cause of bone infections in children.

Kingella kingae, a usually harmless microbe that can grow in the throat, is increasingly being recognized as a cause of bone infections in children. In a new report, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describe three cases of bone infection that occurred at a day care center last year. Prior to the discovery of the current cases, “only sporadic…cases have been reported,” the Atlanta-based agency notes in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. According to a related report, such infections may be more common than thought because special test bottles are not regularly used to grow the microbe for testing. In mid-October 2003, the Minnesota Department of Health investigated two confirmed cases and one probable case of K. kingae bone infection that involved children in the same toddler classroom at a daycare center. The features common to the three cases included fever, throat or ear infection, and refusal to bear weight on the affected leg. Two of the children ultimately required surgery to clear up the bone infection. Investigation of daycare children and staff members uncovered 16 children who had K. kingae in their throats, including almost half of the kids in the toddler room. The microbe found in these children was identical to the ones found in the patients with bone infections. All of the children and staff in the toddler room were given a 2-day course of antibiotics to destroy the microbe. In a 2001-2002 survey of pediatric infectious disease doctors in the US, 23 cases of K. kingae skeletal infection were identified. The report emphasizes that more than a third of doctors surveyed did not use special culture bottles, which might improve detection of the microbe. (Source: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly, Reuters Health, March 2004)