A photo of William Otto.

William Otto, MD

  • Attending Physician, Division of Infectious Diseases
  • Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
I have always liked working in pediatrics, and I enjoy being able to work with children. They are incredibly resilient, and seeing them bounce back from serious illnesses is gratifying.

About

Biography

I am a pediatric infectious diseases physician. I treat Infections in children with an immunocompromising condition, and I am particularly interested in oncology patients and hematopoietic cell transplant recipients.

I have always liked working in pediatrics, and I enjoy being able to work with children. They are incredibly resilient, and seeing them bounce back from serious illnesses is gratifying. The field of infectious diseases is incredibly fascinating. I enjoy the problem-solving aspect of the work and collaborating with other specialties.

My research goal is to understand factors that influence how and why children develop infections so that we can improve how we prevent and treat them. My research specifically focuses on predicting which patients will acquire bloodstream infections — especially in children with leukemia. Unfortunately, these are common infections in those children, and a better understanding of who is at risk for those infections will help inform their clinical assessment and management.

I received the Feigin Editorial Apprenticeship from the Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society (JPIDS). During this apprenticeship, I worked on the journal editorial board and learned more about the research publication process.

MD: Saint Louis University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, 2015.

MSCE: Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 2021.

Residency: Children's Mercy Hospital, Kansas City, MO, 2018.

Fellowship: Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, 2021.

Certification: Pediatrics, 2018; Pediatric Infectious Diseases, 2021.

Interests

Pediatric infectious disease; infections in immunocompromised children

Services and Specialties

Infectious Diseases

Interests

Clinical epidemiology; infections in immunocompromised hosts

Publications

Clinical Reasoning: A 12-Month-Old Male With Staring Episodes, Ataxia, and Right-Sided Weakness. Brosius, SN; Otto, W; Waldman, A; Russo, M; McGuire, J. Neurology. 2022.

Risk of bacterial bloodstream infection does not vary by central-line type during neutropenic periods in pediatric acute myeloid leukemia. Elgarten, CW; Otto, WR; Shenton, L; Stein, MT; Horowitz, J; Aftandilian, C; Arnold, SD; Bona, KO; Caywood, E; Collier, AB; et al. Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology. 2022; 1-8.

Association between Preferred Language and Risk of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Infection in Children in the United States. Otto, WR; Grundmeier, RW; Montoya-Williams, D; Njoroge, WF M; Wallis, KE; Gerber, JS; Yun, K. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. 2021; 105:1261-1264.

Human Adenovirus 7-Associated Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis-like Illness: Clinical and Virological Characteristics in a Cluster of Five Pediatric Cases. Otto, WR; Behrens, EM; Teachey, DT; Lamson, DM; Barrett, DM; Bassiri, H; Lambert, MP; Mount, S; Petrosa, WL; Romberg, N; et al. Clinical Infectious Diseases. 2021; 73:e1532-e1538.

Case Report: Immune Dysregulation Due to Toxoplasma gondii Reactivation After Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplant. Lindell, RB; Wolf, MS; Alcamo, AM; Silverman, MA; Dulek, DE; Otto, WR; Olson, TS; Kitko, CL; Paueksakon, P; Chiotos, K. Frontiers in Pediatrics. 2021; 9.

Fatal Neonatal Sepsis Associated with Human Adenovirus Type 56 Infection: Genomic Analysis of Three Recent Cases Detected in the United States. Otto, WR; Lamson, DM; Gonzalez, G; Weinberg, GA; Pecora, ND; Fisher, BT; St. George, K; Kajon, AE. Viruses. 2021; 13.

Concordance of Upper and Lower Respiratory Tract Samples for SARS-CoV-2 in Pediatric Patients: Research Letter. Lin, EE; Akaho, EH; Sobilo, A; Blatz, AM; Otto, WR; Odom John, AR. Anesthesiology. 2021; 134:970-972.

Validation of International Classification of Disease-10 Code for Identifying Children Hospitalized With Coronavirus Disease-2019. Blatz, AM; David, MZ; Otto, WR; Luan, X; Gerber, JS. Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society. 2021; 10:547-548.

Suppurative Intracranial Complications of Pediatric Sinusitis: A Single-Center Experience. Otto, WR; Paden, WZ; Connors, M; Joerger, T; Buzi, A; Rizzi, M; Huh, J; Storm, P; Heuer, G; Kennedy, B; et al. Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society. 2021; 10:309-316.

Early pandemic molecular diversity of SARS-CoV-2 in children. Moustafa, AM; Otto, W; Gai, X; Pandey, U; Ryutov, A; Bootwalla, M; Maglinte, DT; Shen, L; Ruble, D; Ostrow, D; et al. 2021.