Shorter antifungal treatment for children with Candida bloodstream infection
Short Course Versus Standard Course Antifungal Therapy for Pediatric Candidemia: A Multi-Center Randomized Controlled Trial
This compares a shorter (7-day) versus the usual 14-day antifungal course for children whose blood cultures for Candida have cleared after initial treatment.
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 ID | NIH-11403743 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
If your child has Candida in the blood and starts on an echinocandin antifungal and shows clinical improvement with cleared blood cultures after 7 days, they could be randomly placed into either a short-course group or the standard 14-day group. Doctors at multiple pediatric hospitals will follow children for recurrence, complications, and side effects after treatment. The trial uses random assignment to directly compare outcomes between the shorter and standard courses. Study staff will track safety and whether infections come back after stopping therapy.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Children with uncomplicated candidemia who started echinocandin therapy and have cleared their blood cultures and clinically improved after 7 days are the ideal candidates.
Not a fit: Children with complicated invasive fungal disease (for example, deep-organ involvement, persistent positive blood cultures, or lack of clinical improvement) are unlikely to be eligible or to benefit from a shorter course.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, children may safely receive a shorter antifungal course, reducing drug side effects, IV use, and time in the hospital.
How similar studies have performed: Echinocandins have shown benefit in adult randomized trials and pediatric observational studies, and shorter antibiotic courses work for many bacterial infections, but no randomized trial has yet tested shorter versus standard duration for invasive fungal infections in children.
Where this research is happening
Little Rock, United States
- 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
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 below.