Controversies in Infectious Diseases for General Pediatrics: Debates That May Change Your Practice

Saturday, April 26, 2025

10:00am – 11:30am HST

Location: Convention Center: 313 C

CE: 1.5

Selected By: PIDS

Chair(s)

Joshua Wolf, MBBS, PhD (he/him/his)

Member
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Memphis, Tennessee, United States

Disclosure(s):

Joshua Wolf, MBBS, PhD: Karius Inc. (Ongoing) (Products/Services: Research Support including clinical trials & the principal or named investigator); Pfizer Inc. (Ongoing) (Products/Services: Research Support including clinical trials & the principal or named investigator); Scynexis Inc. (Terminated, August 22, 2023) (Products/Services: Research Support including clinical trials & the principal or named investigator)

Targeted at general pediatricians, hospitalists, pediatric ER docs, and subspecialist or generalist pediatric trainees, these 3 rapidfire debates will address current controversies in prevention, diagnosis and management of infections in hositalized children. The focus is on practical and applicable analysis of available data, and attempting to provide some consensus at the end! They will feature established and rising stars in the world of Infectious Diseases.

The topics are: 1. That long-term central venous catheters infected with Staphylococcus aureus or Candida spp. should routinely be removed; 2. That inflammatory markers should be used to determine immediate management of children presenting to ER with fever; and 3. That fidaxomicin should be first-line therapy for Clostridioides difficile infection in children and adolescents at high risk of treatment failure or relapse.

This session will move fast, and cover a lot of ground. Audiences get to decide who won each debate, and will be able to apply what they learned immediately.

Learning Objectives:

To discriminate situations in which it is necessary to remove long-term central lines in children with bloodstream infection
To establish practical and evidence-based rules for using inflammatory markers to stratify management of children presenting with fever
To determine which antibiotics to use for children and adolescents presenting with Clostridioides difficile infection who are at high risk of treatment failure or relapse.

Presentations:

10:00am – 10:15am HST

Routine Removal of Long-term Central Venous Catheters Infected with Staphylococcus aureus or Candida - Pro
Speaker: Sandra Arnold, MD, MSc (she/her/hers) – University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Medicine
10:15am – 10:30am HST

Routine Removal of Long-term Central Venous Catheters Infected with Staphylococcus aureus or Candida - Con
Speaker: Thomas J. Sandora, MD, MPH (he/him/his) – Boston Children's Hospital
10:30am – 10:45am HST

Use of Inflammatory Markers to Determine Immediate Management of Children Presenting to ER with Fever - Pro
Speaker: Anna Sick-Samuels, MD, MPH (she/her/hers) – Johns Hopkins Children's Center
10:45am – 11:00am HST

Use of Inflammatory Markers to Determine Immediate Management of Children Presenting to ER with Fever - Con
Speaker: Elizabeth Lloyd, MD (she/her/hers) – University of Michigan Medical School
11:00am – 11:15am HST

Fidaxomicin as First-line Therapy for High-risk Clostridioides difficile Infection in Children and Adolescents - Pro
Speaker: Tonya Scardina, PharmD (she/her/hers) – Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago
11:15am – 11:30am HST

Fidaxomicin as First-line Therapy for High-risk Clostridioides difficile Infection in Children and Adolescents - Con
Speaker: Ted Morton, PharmD (he/him/his) – St. Jude Children's Research Hospital