By Nicole Pietraszewski, Community acquired pneumonia (CAP) is the cause of about 1.5 million pediatric medical visits each year and remains the second-leading cause of pediatric hospitalizations in the United States.1 The 2011  Pediatric Infectious Disease Society and Infectious Diseases Society of America (PIDS/IDSA) guideline for pediatric CAP, currently archived, recommends a 10-day treatment course […]

The Surgical Infection Society (SIS) Guidelines on the Prevention and Management of Pediatric Intra-Abdominal Infection Update was just published.1 These authors note that these are to be used in conjunction with the prior guidelines, as many aspects have not changed. Source control remains essential. For treatment they continue to recommend the combination of ceftriaxone (or […]

Measles, a disease that was a rare occurrence in the recent past, has become much more common beginning in 2025. As I have received many questions about measles vaccine and treatment options, I thought it would be a good initial topic to discuss in early 2026. Measles Cases Continuing to Increase The incidence of measles […]

By Kenna Riley   Bacterial arthritis (e.g., septic arthritis) is caused by bacteria entering the joint from the bloodstream, causing infection and inflammation of the joint and synovial fluid.​1​ It requires prompt antibiotic treatment to prevent severe outcomes, such as irreversible joint damage.  In 2023, the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society (PIDS) and the Infectious Diseases […]

Influenza Disease and Vaccination Influenza activity has been increasing for the past few weeks. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) influenza surveillance week 50 shows increasing influenza with children especially impacted.  Influenza-like illness last week, was highest in those 0-4 years (11.2%) followed by 5–24-year-olds (7.5%).1 Emergency department visits for influenza were also significant […]

By Marissa Galicia, PharmD candidate Multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) represent a threat to global health, causing infections that are difficult to treat due to resistance to multiple antimicrobial classes. Some preventable ways that MDROs develop are when antibiotics are used longer than necessary or taken inappropriately.1 Initially, only a few bacteria may survive antibiotic treatment, but […]

By Sydney E. Kolosky, PharmD candidate Neonatal late-onset sepsis is a systemic infection that is acquired from the hospital environment after 72 hours of life.1 It represents a major cause of morbidity and mortality among neonates, particularly those born very preterm, with an incidence of 9% which results in approximately 11% lower risk of survival.2 […]

It is Antibiotic Awareness week! It is a great time to renew our understandings and efforts regarding appropriate use of antibiotics, as inappropriate usage can lead to unnecessary resistance and adverse effects.  For 2025, the CDC’s theme is “Fighting Antimicrobial Resistance Takes All of Us”. There are two easy ways we as pharmacists can help […]

A recent article by Kaplan and colleagues was published in the Journal of Pediatric Infectious Diseases in November 2025 evaluating the pneumococcal serotypes and susceptibility of invasive pneumococcal disease in children.1 In this article, the authors evaluated pediatric pneumococcal disease in children admitted to 8 hospitals across the United States from 2018 – 2023. These […]

The Essential Role of Pharmacists in Pediatric COVID-19 Vaccination Evidence shows that pharmacists played a key role in COVID-19 vaccines for patients of all ages, including children, during the peak of the pandemic. Specifically, in the first three years of the pandemic (12/2020 – 9/2023) pharmacists provided 13 – 57% of all pediatric COVID-19 vaccines.1 […]