Short versus standard antifungal treatment for children with bloodstream Candida infection
Official title: Short Course Versus Standard Course Antifungal Therapy for Pediatric Candidemia: A Multi-Center Randomized Controlled Trial
Funded at Arkansas Children's Hospital Res Inst · NIH-11403747 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This trial compares whether children with bloodstream Candida infections can be safely treated with a shorter 7-day antifungal course instead of the usual 14 days.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Arkansas Children's Hospital Res Inst NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Little Rock, United States) |
| Project start | August 5, 2022 |
| Project end | July 31, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $28,350 |
| NIH project number | 3R01AI170385-04S5 |
| Project ID | NIH-11403747 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Children with uncomplicated candidemia who have cleared their blood cultures and shown clinical improvement after seven days of echinocandin therapy are the ideal candidates.
✕Less likely to help
Children with complicated or deep-seated Candida infections, persistent positive blood cultures, or those not improving after initial therapy are unlikely to be eligible or to benefit from a shortened course.
What this research studies
If your child has Candida in the blood, they would all receive one week of an echinocandin antifungal medicine. After that first week, your child would be randomly assigned to either stop treatment or continue for another week, and doctors would watch for the infection coming back, side effects, and overall recovery. The trial is being run at multiple pediatric centers and uses blood tests and clinical checks during and after treatment to track outcomes. Families will be followed to see if the shorter approach works as well as the longer course.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, a shorter course could mean fewer drug side effects, shorter hospital stays, and less time on IV antifungals for children.
How similar studies have gone: Adult randomized trials and a pediatric observational study support echinocandin initial therapy and many bacterial infections have been safely treated with shorter courses, but no randomized trial has yet compared short versus standard duration for invasive fungal infections in children.
Where this research is happening
-
Arkansas Children's Hospital Res Inst
Little Rock, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Steinbach, William J — Arkansas Children's Hospital Res Inst
- Study coordinator: Steinbach, William J
Related research
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Shorter antifungal treatment for kids with candidemia
A multi-center pediatric trial tests whether a shorter, 7 extra days of antifungal therapy after an initial 7 days is just as good as the standard 14-day approach for kids with candidemia who are improving on echinocandin therapy.
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Short Course vs Standard Course Antifungal Therapy for Pediatric Candidemia
This study tests whether a shorter 7-day total antifungal treatment after an initial 7 days of echinocandin therapy is as effective as the usual 14-day course for children with candidemia.
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Shorter antifungal treatment for kids with candidemia
A multi-center study tests whether kids with candidemia can finish treatment earlier after an initial week of antifungal therapy than the standard two weeks total.
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Shorter antifungal treatment for kids with candidemia
This study tests whether children with candidemia can finish treatment after 7 days of an echinocandin if they are improving, instead of completing a full 14 days.
-
Shorter antifungal course for kids with candidemia
A multi-center study tests whether 7 extra days of antifungal therapy after an initial week of treatment can be shortened safely for children with candidemia.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.