ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Pediatr.
Sec. Pediatric Infectious Diseases
This article is part of the Research TopicNew Discoveries and Challenges in Pediatric Infectious Diseases: Epidemiological, Clinical, and Pathogenic AdvancesView all 16 articles
ISOLATION, IDENTIFICATION, AND SENSITIVITY PROFILE OF BACILLUS SPP. IN CO-INFECTION WITH RESPIRATORY VIRUSES
Provisionally accepted
Angelica de Lima das Chagas1*
Joilma Cruz da Silva Araújo2Jose Daniel Goncalves Vieira3Lilian Carla Carneiro1,3- 1Faculty of Medicine, Federal University of Goiás, Goiânia, Brazil
- 2Universidade Federal de Goias Faculdade Farmacia, Goiânia, Brazil
- 3Universidade Federal de Goias Instituto de Patologia Tropical e Saude Publica, Goiânia, Brazil
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
This study investigates the occurrence and antimicrobial susceptibility of Bacillus spp. in pediatric patients with viral respiratory infections admitted to intensive care units. Secondary bacterial infections are known to exacerbate the severity of viral respiratory diseases and represent a major cause of morbidity and mortality during pandemics, including COVID-19. A total of 659 respiratory samples from children with respiratory symptoms hospitalized in five hospitals were analyzed. Bacterial co-infections were identified by inoculation in BHI medium and confirmed by MALDI-TOF. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed using the Kirby-Bauer method, following EUCAST guidelines. Among 166 cases of bacterial co-infection, 20 (12.05%) were attributed to Bacillus spp., with a predominance in patients infected with respiratory syncytial virus (55%). The isolates showed high susceptibility to vancomycin (85%), imipenem (80%), erythromycin (70%), and ciprofloxacin (65%). These findings reveal that Bacillus spp., often considered an environmental contaminant, may play a clinically relevant role in pediatric viral co-infections, particularly in severe respiratory cases. This study contributes novel data to a poorly explored area of pediatric infectious disease research, emphasizing the need for routine susceptibility testing to optimize antimicrobial therapy. The results provide a foundation for future molecular studies on Bacillus spp. virulence and resistance mechanisms, supporting evidence-based management and infection control practices in critical care settings.
Keywords: bacterial coinfection, Antibiogram, Bacillus spp. resistance, respiratory virus, COVID-19
Received: 03 Oct 2025; Accepted: 17 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Chagas, Araújo, Vieira and Carneiro. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Angelica de Lima das Chagas
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.