RESEARCH ARTICLE


Respiratory Colonization by Kingella kingae, Person-to-Person Transmission, and Pathogenesis of Invasive Infection



Pablo Yagupsky*
Clinical Microbiology Laboratory, Soroka University Medical Center, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva 84101, Israel.

Article Information


Identifiers and Pagination:

Year: 2013
Volume: 7
First Page: 6
Last Page: 14
Publisher Id: TOIDJ-7-6
DOI: 10.2174/1874279301307010006

Article History:

Received Date: 21/12/2012
Revision Received Date: 21/1/2013
Acceptance Date: 22/1/2013
Electronic publication date: 28/2/2013
Collection year: 2013

© 2013 Yagupsky et al.

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Correspondence: * Address correspondence to this author at the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory, Soroka University Medical Center, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva 84101, Israel. Tel: (972) 86400507; Fax: (972) 86403541; E-mail: yagupsky@.bgu.ac.il


Abstract

Increasing recognition of Kingella kingae as an important pathogen of early childhood in recent years has elicited interest in the study of the asymptomatic carriage of the organism, its dissemination in the human population, and the role played by colonization of the upper respiratory tract in the pathogenesis of K. kingae invasion of the skeletal system and the endocardium.

Research has revealed that K. kingae is a frequent component of the normal oropharyngeal microbiota, disclosed the subtle molecular mechanisms responsible for adherence of the bacterium to the pharyngeal mucosa, and revealed the presence of a potent RTX toxin, probably implicated in breaching the epithelial barrier, survival of the organism in the bloodstream, and damage to bone and joint tissues. Epidemiological studies have shown that carriage of K. kingae peaks in 6-30 month-old children, coinciding with the age of increased susceptibility to invasive disease, and daycare-center attendance represent a significant risk factor for pharyngeal colonization. The organism is transmitted from person-toperson by close contact between family members, playmaytes, and day-care center attendees. Carriage is characterized by frequent turnover of colonizing strains, similar to what has been described in other pathogens of respiratory origin.

Keywords: Invasive disease, Kingella kingae, pharyngeal colonization.