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.
William Otto, MD

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

Insurance Information

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Publications

1453. Whole Genome Sequencing: A Useful Tool in a VRE Outbreak Among Immunocompromised Pediatric Patients. Murphy, CR; Mahulkar, S; Griffin, G; Griffin, C; Ankrum, AL; Otto, WR; Danziger-Isakov, LA; Haslam, D; Scaggs-Huang, F. Open Forum Infectious Diseases. 2023; 10:ofad500.1290.

1702. Disseminated Candidiasis after Candidemia: Epidemiology, Diagnostic Evaluation, and Risk Factors. Whitehurst, D; Murphy, CR; Teoh, Z; Brammer, CN; Perkins, K; Paulsen, GC; Danziger-Isakov, LA; Miller-Handley, H; Otto, WR. Open Forum Infectious Diseases. 2023; 10:ofad500.1535.

A Practical Guide to Antifungal Susceptibility Testing. Otto, WR; Arendrup, MC; Fisher, BT. Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society. 2023; 12:214-221.

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. 2023; 44:222-229.

Prospective Evaluation of the Fungitell® (1→3) Beta-D-Glucan Assay as a Diagnostic Tool for Invasive Fungal Disease in Pediatric Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation: A Report from the Children's Oncology Group. Otto, WR; Dvorak, CC; Boge, CL K; Ostrosky-Zeichner, L; Esbenshade, AJ; Nieder, ML; Alexander, S; Steinbach, WJ; Dang, H; Villaluna, D; et al. Pediatric Transplantation. 2023; 27:e14399.

Absolute lymphocyte count recovery following initial acute myelogenous leukemia therapy: Implications for adoptive cell therapy. Molina, JC; Li, Y; Otto, WR; Miller, TP; Getz, KD; Mccoubrey, C; Ramos, M; Krause, E; Cao, L; Gramatges, MM; et al. Pediatric Blood and Cancer. 2023; 70:e30062.

Clinical Reasoning: A 12-Month-Old Male Child With Staring Episodes, Ataxia, and Right-sided Weakness. Brosius, SN; Otto, W; Waldman, A; Russo, M; McGuire, J. Neurology. 2022; 99:805-810.

Ribavirin Use in Hospitalized Children. Otto, WR; Lee, G; Thurm, CW; Hersh, AL; Gerber, JS. Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society. 2022; 11:386-387.

Antiviral Therapeutics in Pediatric Transplant Recipients. Otto, WR; Green, A. Infectious Disease Clinics of North America. 2022; 36:125-146.

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.

Patient Ratings and Comments

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4.6
Overall Patient Rating