Kingella kingae infection in healthy children

Kingella kingae is a gram-negative occasional, but normal, inhabitant of the nasopharynx. We present two new cases of this infection that occurred in previously healthy children, and compare and contrast them to other cases reported in the literature. K. kingae osteomyelitis generally has an insidious, subacute onset, whereas septic arthritis has an acute presentation. To date, all strains of K. kingae have been sensitive to penicillin, and no residual damage has been reported following osteomyelitis or septic arthritis, except that residual disk space narrowing did occur after K. kingae discitis.