An outbreak of Kingella kingae infections associated with hand, foot and mouth disease/herpangina virus outbreak in Marseille, France, 2013.

BACKGROUND

Outbreaks of invasive Kingella kingae infections recently emerged as a new public health concern in daycare centers in Europe, USA and Israel. Despite this, no trigger factor has been yet identified, preventing the setting up of rational measures of control and prevention. We report an outbreak of K. kingae infections associated with hand, foot and mouth disease/herpangina outbreak, and we define the research and policy priorities.

METHODS

From April 22 to May 07, 2013, 5 toddlers presented successive osteo-articular infections in a daycare center in Marseille, France. Real-time polymerase chain reaction targeting the cpn60 gene of K. kingae was used to investigate suspected cases and the prevalence of oropharyngeal K. kingae carriage of their close contacts.

RESULTS

The attack rate of the K. kingae infections outbreak was 23.7% (5/21) with no fatality. Positive real-time polymerase chain reaction targeting the cpn60 gene of K. kingae confirmed the diagnosis in 3 cases and revealed a rate of K. kingae oropharynx carriage in the index classroom of 94.4% (17/18) among daycare attendees not given antibiotic during the previous month, and of 76.9% (10/13) among staff in close contact. The eradication rate of K. kingae was 21.4% (3/14) among classmates after oral administration of rifampicin, and eradication occurred spontaneously in 83.3% (5/6) of the staff. Clinical and epidemiological features of the herpangina outbreak were consistent with that of an emerging European Coxsackievirus-A6 outbreak.

CONCLUSIONS

Hand, foot and mouth disease/herpangina virus outbreak enables triggering a K. kingae infections outbreak. Our findings offer support for new guidelines of K. kingae infections outbreaks management and emphasize the need for further research.