Low prevalence of Kingella kingae carriage in children aged 6-48 months in Sydney, Australia.
OBJECTIVE
A prospective observational study was conducted to estimate the prevalence of oropharyngeal carriage of Kingella kingae in healthy Australian pre-school children.


METHODS
Screening for carriage of K. kingae as well as Streptococcus pyogenes, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Streptococcus agalactiae, Staphylococcus aureus, Haemophilus influenzae, and K. kingae was undertaken using a single bacterial throat swab taken from well children aged 6 months to 4 years. Standard laboratory procedures were used for culture and identification of organisms.


RESULTS
One hundred children were enrolled between October and December 2014 at the Children's Hospital at Westmead. Median age was 24.0 months (range 6.1-48.8 months); 52 children were male and 36 attended day-care facilities. Forty-one children had siblings aged less than 5 years and 67 children had siblings of any age. K. kingae oropharyngeal carriage was not detected in any of the children. Rates of carriage of other organisms were: 30% S. aureus, 21% H. influenzae, 2% S. pneumoniae and 2% S. pyogenes. Thirty-eight children were colonised with Kingella denitrificans.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results suggest that prevalence of K. kingae carriage in pre-school children in Sydney is very low and support local and national guidelines that recommend flucloxacillin as empiric first-line therapy for children with osteoarticular infections. Studies conducted over the winter months and in other Australian centres could help answer outstanding questions regarding differences in carriage rates of K. kingae in children.
Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Ameneh
A
Khatami
Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Braden Rl
BR
Rivers
Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Alexander C
AC
Outhred
Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Alison M
AM
Kesson
D002675:Child, Preschool; D006776:Hospitals, Pediatric; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D017882:Kingella kingae / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods; D016870:Neisseriaceae Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009517:New South Wales / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D014504:Urban Health

Kingella kingae
; child; oropharyngeal carriage; pre-school