Kingella kingae spondylodiscitis in young children: toward a new approach for bacteriological investigations? A preliminary report.

As the result of improved bacteriological techniques, Kingella kingae is a slow-growing Gram-negative coccobacillus that is emerging as an important cause of spondylodiscitis in children younger than 3 years of age. The high pharyngeal carrier rates of this slow-growing Gram-negative coccobacillus combined with the low incidence of identified K. kingae infections is possibly explained by a low virulence of this bacterium. The use of specific real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) on blood samples and throat swabs opens new prospects in the bacteriological investigations of young children suspected to have spondylodiscitis, an approach that could prevent, in the future, unnecessary invasive interventions.