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The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), a group of medical and public health experts who provides expert advice to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, normally meets three times per year to develop U.S. vaccine recommendations. The ACIP met on February 22–24, 2023, to discuss mpox vaccine, influenza vaccines, pneumococcus vaccines, meningococci vaccines, polio vaccines, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine, chikungunya vaccines, dengue vaccines, and COVID-19 vaccines.

Background Acute hematogenous osteomyelitis (AHO) affects about 2-13 children per 100,000 in developed countries each year. Staphylococcus aureus is the most common causative pathogen of AHO and, due to antibiotic resistant strains of this species, a microbial diagnosis is often desired. Blood and bone cultures may identify causative pathogens and determine antibiotic susceptibilities but obtaining bone cultures carries risks. The benefit to patients of having a pathogen identified is disputed and further research is required to address this question. The objectives of this study were to determine if length of stay differs between culture-negative and culture-positive patients and to determine if odds of receiving 3 or more unique antibiotics differs between culture-negative and culture-positive patients. Methods Data were retrospectively abstracted from medical records of pediatric patients with a clinician’s diagnosis of AHO admitted to Children’s National Hospital (CNH) between January 1, 2010 – June 30, 2020. Baseline characteristics, treatment, and outcomes were described. For culture-negative and culture-positive AHO patients, length of stay and odds of receiving 3 or more unique antibiotics were compared using multiple linear regression and multiple logistic regression, respectively. Results Of 367 included patients, 210 had a positive culture result about 83% of which were identified as S. aureus. Culture-negative patients were associated with a 6.45-day shorter length of stay compared to culture-positive patients, adjusting for age, peak C-reactive protein (CRP), and surgery (p = 0.02). Culture-negative patients had 0.196 times the odds of receiving 3 or more unique antibiotics than culture-positive patients, adjusting for age, peak CRP, and surgery (95% CI: 0.114, 0.336). Conclusion Among AHO patients admitted to CNH, being culture-negative was associated with shorter length of stay and lower odds of receiving 3 or more unique antibiotics. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), a group of medical and public health experts that provides expert advice to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, normally meets three times per year to develop US vaccine recommendations. The ACIP increased its meeting frequency over the past 2.5 years to address vaccine-related issues during the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 pandemic. They met to discuss updating coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) booster dose recommendations on September 1, 2022 recommending the use of new bivalent COVID-19 booster vaccines which include equal amounts of ancestral and Omicron BA.4/BA.5 variant mRNA that encodes the spike protein.

Background Acute Flaccid Myelitis (AFM), diagnosed almost exclusively in children, is characterized by sudden onset flaccid weakness in one or more extremities with distinct gray matter spinal cord lesions on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), with or without cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) pleocytosis. Outbreaks of AFM have occurred biennially since 2014. Although the definitive causative agent(s) remain unknown, current data support an association with Enteroviruses D68 and A71. Treatment is supportive and long-term prognosis is variable, with many children having persistent motor deficits. Methods In this prospective cohort study, we identified patients with clinical and radiographic presentation consistent with AFM at Children’s National Hospital (CNH) from 2013–2019. Medical records and MRIs of identified patients were then reviewed by members of the multidisciplinary CNH AFM Task Force to identify those meeting diagnostic criteria for AFM. Identified patients had follow-up arranged in the multidisciplinary AFM clinic for exam, functional motor assessment and quality of life questionnaires (Peds QL, PROMIS and NeuroQoL). Results Since 2013, we identified 22 patients meeting criteria for AFM at CNH. The average age of our patients was 7.25 years (range 6 months to 16 years); almost 2/3 of patients had CSF pleocytosis. Half of patients presented with initial neurologic complaint of single limb weakness. Other presenting neurological symptoms included ataxia, bilateral lower extremity weakness and ophthalmoplegia. A potential infectious cause was identified in the CSF, blood, nasopharynx or stool of 9 patients. As of November 2019, 7 of 21 patients have had follow-up evaluation; 1 had no improvement, 4 had partial improvement but with persistent motor deficits, and 2 had complete resolution. Two patients/families have completed quality of life questionnaires to date. CNH AFM Patient Characteristics and Results Conclusion Similar to other centers, the majority of CNH AFM patients with follow-up to date have persistent and significant long term motor deficits. Assessment of quality of life is an important aspect that has not yet been formally assessed in other studies and will provide useful information regarding the experience of these patients and help identify goals for optimizing care in the future. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures

Background Hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) describes a clinical presentation of acute kidney injury, microangiopathic hemolytic anemia and thrombocytopenia. Five to 15% of HUS cases are related to Streptococcus pneumoniae infection, most often meningitis or pneumonia. Despite the introduction of PCV13 and a decrease in invasive pneumococcal disease in children, the incidence of pneumococcal-related HUS (pHUS) cases is rising for unclear reasons. Efforts to determine whether certain serotypes increase the risk of pHUS are often hampered by negative cultures in patients with suspected pneumococcal disease. Direct microbiologic detection methods, such as next-generation sequencing (NGS), may be useful in identifying pHUS cases. We describe four children with pHUS from two institutions that were identified via NGS of cell-free plasma. Methods Four patients with HUS and negative initial cultures were identified. Blood was sent to Karius (Redwood City, CA) for pathogen detection via plasma NGS. Cell-free DNA was extracted and NGS performed. Human sequences were removed and remaining sequences were aligned to a curated pathogen database including over 1000 organisms. Organisms present above a predefined statistical threshold were reported. For serotyping by NGS, sequences were aligned to a collection of 90 serotype-associated cps alleles. Results All four patients were found be positive for S. pneumoniae at extremely high levels (Table 1). Three out of four samples were identified as serotype 3 by NGS and similar to the same strain (SPN034183). The fourth sample was consistent with serotype 12A and no strain call was made. Conclusion In this case series, we report on four patients with pHUS identified via plasma NGS. These cases demonstrate the potential of NGS for pathogen detection and quantitation in plasma to assist in identification of culture-negative infections, as well as the potential to identify clusters of disease that would likely otherwise have gone undetected. Table 1: Karius NGS Data Patient Immunizations Up to Date Organism ID MPM (Molecules/µL)* Serotype 18 Months (CNMC) Y S. pneumoniae 1,957,238 3 11 Months (Rady) Y S. pneumoniae 9,122,698 3 26 Months (Rady) Y S. pneumoniae 151,941,207 12A 42 Months (Rady) N S. pneumoniae 1,435,748 3 *Median MPM in non-HUS S. pneumoniae positive samples over the last 90 days was 1202 MPM Disclosures S. Venkatasubrahmanyam, Karius, Inc.: Employee, Salary. D. Hong, Karius, Inc.: Employee, Salary.

The incidence of bacteremia at the onset of pediatric febrile neutropenia (FN) at 2 academically linked institutions was 9.84%, and subsequent blood cultures performed for children with persistent FN yielded an incidence of 4.21%. Until the risk factors for new-onset bacteremia in patients being treated for FN can be identified and diagnostic methods can be improved, compliance with national guidelines is recommended.