{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,18]],"date-time":"2026-08-18T05:00:45Z","timestamp":1787029245050,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":42,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,4]],"date-time":"2025-02-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1738627200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Italian Ministry of Health"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Pathogens"],"abstract":"<jats:p>This study aimed to identify key differences between K. kingae infections and those caused by S. aureus or other pathogens. Differentiating these infections is crucial due to their nonspecific clinical presentations and overlapping laboratory and radiological findings, particularly when isolates are unavailable. We retrospectively analyzed data from 702 pediatric patients with bone and joint infections from 2010 to 2023 across two hospitals. The most common diagnoses were osteomyelitis (35.3%) and arthritis (29.6%), with fever present in 46.0% of cases. Pathogen identification showed K. kingae (40.9%) and S. aureus (36.5%) as the most frequent. Patients with K. kingae were significantly younger (median age 1.5 years) than those with S. aureus (10.4 years) or other pathogens (6.8 years) (p &lt; 0.001). Fever was more common in S. aureus (64.3%) and other pathogens (57.5%) than in K. kingae (26.4%) (p &lt; 0.001). CRP levels were lower in K. kingae infections (median 1.5 mg\/dl) compared to S. aureus (6.1 mg\/dl) and other pathogens (5.0 mg\/dl) (p &lt; 0.001). K. kingae infections were predominantly treated with penicillin\u2013clavulanate and had shorter treatment durations and lower sequelae rates (2.3%) compared to other pathogens (19.0%). These findings emphasize K. kingae\u2019s distinct clinical profile and milder course compared to S. aureus and other pathogens.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/pathogens14020147","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,4]],"date-time":"2025-02-04T05:55:22Z","timestamp":1738648522000},"page":"147","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":8,"title":["Multicenter Retrospective Analysis of 702 Pediatric Cases of Bone and Joint Infections: Definition of Clinical and Biological Features to Discriminate K. kingae, S. aureus, and Other Bacterial Infections"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Marco","family":"Roversi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"UOC Trials, Bambino Ges\u00f9 Children\u2019s Hospital, IRCCS, 00165 Rome, Italy"},{"name":"PhD Program in Immunology, Molecular Medicine and Applied Biotechnology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Francesca","family":"Pignatelli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Infectious Disease Unit, Bambino Ges\u00f9 Children\u2019s Hospital, IRCCS, 00165 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0006-2455-6224","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Giacomo","family":"De Marco","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Pediatric Orthopedic Unit, Pediatric Surgery Service, Geneva University Hospitals, 1206 Geneva, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1325-8575","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Oscar","family":"Vazquez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Pediatric Orthopedic Unit, Pediatric Surgery Service, Geneva University Hospitals, 1206 Geneva, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4038-4881","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Dimitri","family":"Ceroni","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Pediatric Orthopedic Unit, Pediatric Surgery Service, Geneva University Hospitals, 1206 Geneva, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3316-957X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Antonio","family":"Musolino","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"General Pediatrics and ED II Level, Bambino Ges\u00f9 Children\u2019s Hospital IRCCS, 00165 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marco","family":"Cirillo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology Unit, Bambino Ges\u00f9 Children\u2019s Hospital, IRCCS, 00165 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Laura","family":"Lancella","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Infectious Disease Unit, Bambino Ges\u00f9 Children\u2019s Hospital, IRCCS, 00165 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9120-0424","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alberto","family":"Villani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"General Pediatrics and ED II Level, Bambino Ges\u00f9 Children\u2019s Hospital IRCCS, 00165 Rome, Italy"},{"name":"System Medicine Department, Tor Vergata University, 00133 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Andrzej","family":"Krzysztofiak","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Infectious Disease Unit, Bambino Ges\u00f9 Children\u2019s Hospital, IRCCS, 00165 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"name":"on behalf of the Osteomyelitis Collaborative Study Group","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,4]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"DeMarco, G., Chargui, M., Coulin, B., Borner, B., Steiger, C., Dayer, R., and Ceroni, D. 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