Juchler C, et al. - The objective of this research was to evaluate the contemporary bacteriologic epidemiology of pediatric osteoarticular infection with emphasis on children's ages. As revealed by appropriate PCR assays, K kingae served as the major bacterial cause of pediatric osteoarticular infection currently, especially in children <4 years of age in whom K kingae was more common than S aureus. PCR assays were recommended in routine microbiologic laboratory analysis to improve diagnostic performance. Irrespective of the use of molecular methods, several osteoarticular infections were found in which no microorganism was detected. This, in turn, indicated that these infections could be due to other as yet unrecognized fastidious microorganisms.