Outbreak of Osteomyelitis/Septic Arthritis Caused by<i>Kingella kingae</i>Among Child Care Center Attendees

Abstract

This is the first reported outbreak of invasive K kingae disease. The high prevalence in the affected toddler class and the matching PFGE pattern are consistent with child-to-child transmission within the child care center. Rifampin was modestly effective in eliminating carriage. DNA sequence analysis suggests that there may be considerable variability within the species K kingae and that different K kingae strains may demonstrate varying degrees of pathogenicity.