INTRODUCTION

George R Thompson, III, MD: Hello, my name is Dr George Thompson, and I’m a Professor of Medicine here at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, California. In this activity, we will talk about what’s new in pediatric mold infections. I am joined by Dr Antonio Arrieta, who is an expert in this area. This should be an enjoyable conversation. I am hoping the content is helpful, not only for our audience but also for me as a non-pediatrician to learn more about taking care of these patients. There are some key differences in the care of the pediatric population versus the care in the adult population, which has much more robust literature supporting it. I’m also pleased to be joined by Rob Purdie, a fungal patient advocate and Managing Director of the Mycology Advocacy, Research, & Education (MyCARE) Foundation. MyCARE Foundation is a pan-fungal disease patient advocacy organization. Rob will ask some questions at the end from the patient/caregiver perspective.

We will discuss the following:

  • Epidemiology, which is somewhat different in pediatrics vs adult infections
  • Risk factors
  • Diagnostics, including some of the newer tests that are available
  • Management
    • Data on management of invasive aspergillosis and mucormycosis
    • Pharmacologic considerations
  • Patient/caregiver education and engagement

Antonio Arrieta, MD: Hello, George. Thank you. My name is Antonio Arrieta. I’m the Division Chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the Children’s Hospital of Orange County in Orange, California. I hold a position of Professor of Pediatrics at the University of California, Irvine. I’m really looking forward to our discussion today.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Faculty

George R. Thompson, III, MD

Professor of Medicine
University of California, Davis, School of Medicine
Sacramento, California

Dr George Thompson is a Professor of Medicine at the University of California, Davis, School of Medicine (Sacramento, CA) with a joint appointment in the Departments of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, and Internal Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases. Dr Thompson specializes in the care of patients with invasive fungal infections and his research interests are in fungal epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnostics, treatments, and outcomes.

Dr Thompson focuses on the fungal diseases caused by Aspergillus, Candida, and Coccidioides spp. These fungi are of both regional and global importance. Aspergillus infections continue to emerge in new patient populations (e.g., COVID-19), Candida spp. are the 4th leading cause of bloodstream infections across the world and carry substantial morbidity and mortality, and coccidioidomycosis affects over 450,000 people per year within the Southwestern United States. Our studies focus on the evaluation of new antifungal agents, the pathophysiologic mechanisms of antifungal therapy, including both the development of resistance and the biologic underpinnings of adverse drug reactions.

Dr Thompson served as the co-chair of the National Academy of Sciences Symposium on Coccidioidomycosis in the fall of 2022, and as an advisor to the World Health Organization (WHO) for fungal priority pathogens. He has additionally served on multiple international guidelines that are highly utilized by clinicians globally. He was formerly the educational chair of the Mycoses Study Group Education Committee (MSGERC) – and was responsible for the development of fungal educational content to practitioners globally and the design of pivotal clinical trials. He is currently the president elect of the MSGERC. He has served on both the CDC and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Special Emphasis Panels as a grant reviewer and on the FDA Antifungal and Coccidioidomycosis Advisory committees. He has also been a congressional consultant for the Valley Fever Task Force, and the Congressional Pasteur and Forward Acts focused on antifungal and antibacterial resistance.

Antonio C. Arrieta, MD

Division Chief
Pediatric Infectious Diseases
Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC)
Orange, California

As a nationally-recognized expert in pediatric infectious disease, Dr. Arrieta specializes in the treatment of serious community-acquired and nosocomial infections and has added expertise in HIV medicine. His main area of research centers on investigating invasive fungal infections and new antifungal agents. He is also investigating the immune response to infections in premature infants. Dr Arrieta is a respected physician leader and currently serves as president of the medical staff as well as Division Chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC).

A prolific author, Dr Arrieta has written many poster presentations, articles, and book chapters. He has coauthored more than 50 poster presentations for meetings and conferences including many of the past Interscience Conferences on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy and Annual Meetings of the European Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases. His more than 50 articles have been featured in journals including the Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, the American Journal of Surgery, and the Journal of the American Medical Association. He has written and edited book chapters in the Textbook of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Pediatric Adolescent Medicine, and Pediatric Hospital Medicine, among others.

Dedicated to clinical excellence, Dr Arrieta is board certified in pediatrics and pediatric infectious diseases. Prior to joining CHOC, Dr Arrieta attended medical school at Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia in Lima, Peru. He completed his residency at Southern Illinois University and conducted his fellowship training in pediatric infectious diseases at Miller Children’s and Women’s Hospital in Long Beach and University of California, Irvine.

MyCARE thanks Astellas for sponsoring this activity.

Copyright © 2025. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. MyCARE Foundation. Astellas-sponsored, MA-MM-14973. May 2025. ASTELLAS and the Flying Star Logo are registered trademarks of Astellas Pharma Inc. Used with permission.