Clinical Focus


  • Pediatric Infectious Diseases

Academic Appointments


Administrative Appointments


  • Director of Pediatric Infection Prevention and Control, John Muir Health (2019 - Present)
  • Director of Pediatric Antimicrobial Stewardship, John Muir Health (2019 - Present)

Professional Education


  • Board Certification: American Board of Pediatrics, Pediatric Infectious Diseases (2019)
  • Fellowship: Stanford University Pediatric Infectious Disease Fellowship (2018) CA
  • Board Certification: American Board of Pediatrics, Pediatrics (2015)
  • Residency: University of Florida at Sacred Heart Pediatric Residency (2015) FL
  • Medical Education: Cairo University Faculty of Medicine Office of the Registrar (2009) Egypt
  • Board Certification, American Board of Pediatrics (2015)
  • Residency, Florida State University (2015)
  • Internship, Florida State University (2013)
  • Medical Education, Cairo University School of Medicine (2009)

Current Research and Scholarly Interests


Talal Seddik is a member of the Collaborative Antiviral Study Group. He is the key site investigator at the Stanford site for the following multicenter studies:

1) Enterovirus Natural History Study
Neonatal Enterovirus and Human Parechovirus Viral Sepsis: Natural History and Predictors of Morbidity and Mortality

This study is actively enrolling subjects

2) Acute Flaccid Myelitis (AFM) Study
A Prospective Study of Acute Flaccid Myelitis (AFM) to Define Natural History, Risk Factors and Pathogenetic Mechanisms

This study is closed for enrollment.

3) Congenital CMV Follow up Study
A Retrospective Follow-Up Study of The Durability of Antiviral Therapy on Long-Term Hearing and Neurodevelopmental Outcomes Among Patients Treated for Congenital Cytomegalovirus
Infection as Infants or Toddlers

https://cpic.rarediseasesnetwork.org/research-study/8604

Clinical Trials


  • A Study to Learn About Variant-Adapted COVID-19 RNA Vaccine Candidate(s) in Healthy Children Recruiting

    The purpose of this clinical trial is to learn about the safety, extent of the side effects, and immune responses of the study vaccine (called variant-adapted BNT162b2 RNA-based vaccine) in healthy children. The trial is divided into 5 individual studies or substudies based on age group and prior history of COVID-19 vaccinations. All participants in each of the 5 sub-studies will receive study vaccine as a shot depending on what group they are in. * Substudy A design: Phase 1 includes participants 6 months through less than 4 years 3 months of age who have not received a previous coronavirus vaccination (COVID-19 vaccine naïve) and will receive 3 doses of study vaccine as their initial series, followed by a fourth dose of study vaccine. Phase 2/3 includes participants 6 months through less than 5 years of age who have not received a previous coronavirus vaccination (COVID-19 vaccine naive) and will receive 1, 2, or 3 doses of study vaccine, depending on what group they are in. * Substudy B design: includes participants 6 months through less than 5 years of age who have either received 2 or 3 prior doses of BNT162b2 and will receive study vaccine as their third or fourth dose. * Substudy C design: Phase 1 includes participants 6 months through less than 5 years of age who have received 3 prior doses of BNT162b2 and will receive study vaccine as their fourth dose. * Substudy D design: includes participants 5 through less than12 years of age who have received 2 or 3 prior doses of BNT162b2 and will receive study vaccine as their third or fourth dose. * Substudy E design: includes participants 2 through less than 12 years of age who have not received a previous coronavirus vaccination (COVID-19 vaccine naive) and will receive a single dose of study vaccine.

    View full details

  • A Study to Learn About a Modified RNA Vaccine Against Shingles in Healthy Adults Not Recruiting

    The purpose of this clinical study is to learn about the safety, extent of the side effects (reaction to vaccine), and immune response (your immune system's reaction) of the study vaccine called Varicella Zoster Virus modRNA (VZV modRNA). We are seeking for healthy participants who are between 50 and 69 years of age. This study will be conducted in 2 substudies: Substudy A (Phase 1) and Substudy B (Phase 2). Substudy A: This substudy is the Phase 1 portion of the study. In this substudy, participants will receive 1 of 3 VZV modRNA vaccine candidates (different construct, different dose levels and different formulation \[frozen or freeze dry powder\]) or the approved shingles vaccine intramuscularly. Participants will be assigned in 1 of 14 groups in the study. Vaccination will be given either as a 2-dose series using one of two dosing schedules (either 2-months apart or 6-months apart), or (in one of the groups), as a single VZV modRNA vaccine at the first vaccination visit and saline at the second vaccination visit. Participants will take part in this study for 8 to 12 months depending on the group they are assigned to. Some group(s) will continue into persistence-of-immunity (overtime assessment of effect of vaccine) portion of the study. Those participants assigned to these selected groups will be involved in the study for up to 5 years. Substudy B: This substudy is the Phase 2 portion of the study. In this part of the study, participants will receive either VZV modRNA vaccine at selected dose level/schedule/formulation or approved shingles vaccine. This selection will be determined from Substudy A. Participants will be involved in this study for up to 5 years.

    Stanford is currently not accepting patients for this trial.

    View full details

All Publications


  • Examining Infectious Complications Following Lumbar Puncture in Children. Clinical pediatrics Seddik, T. B., Burns, J. E., Chen, S. F., Schwenk, H. T., Liao, Y., Horstman, K., Waris, R., Dos Santos, L. M. 2024: 99228241293901

    Abstract

    Little is known about infectious complications of lumbar puncture (LP) in children. We reviewed records of children with bacterial meningitis, intraspinal abscess, and vertebral osteomyelitis over a 3-year period to identify infections following LP. Four children with bacterial meningitis and 1 child with vertebral osteomyelitis were identified and their clinical presentations were described. These cases were scored by infectious disease experts, using a Likert scale, for the possibility of iatrogenic causation; these scores were variable, reflecting uncertainty. The bacterial meningitis cases had repeat LPs, and the latter cerebrospinal fluid analyses were diagnostic of bacterial meningitis; the interval between the initial "index" LP (I-LP) and symptom onset was 8 to 10 hours in most cases. Pediatricians should be aware of this possibility, and have a low threshold to repeat LP if there is a clinical change after the I-LP that could be consistent with meningitis.

    View details for DOI 10.1177/00099228241293901

    View details for PubMedID 39552070

  • IKZF1-RELATED COMBINED IMMUNODEFICIENCY DIAGNOSED DUE TO PNEUMOCYSTIS JIROVECII PNEUMONIA Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Dhinsa, H., Seddik, T. B., Sanchez, L. 2024; 133 (6)
  • Meningitis due to Roseomonas in an immunocompetent adolescent. Access microbiology Waris, R. S., Ballard, M., Hong, D., Seddik, T. B. 2021; 3 (3): 000213

    Abstract

    Both bacterial and aseptic meningitis can complicate neurosurgery, but they are often difficult to distinguish clinically or by cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis. We present an adolescent with subacute meningitis after neurosurgery, eventually diagnosed with meningitis caused by Roseomonas mucosa via 16S rRNA gene sequencing after two negative CSF cultures. He was treated successfully with intravenous meropenem with full recovery. This case shows that distinguishing bacterial from aseptic meningitis is important to allow directed antibiotic therapy. We recommend considering bacterial meningitis in the differential diagnosis of aseptic meningitis complicating neurosurgery, and to perform molecular diagnostics such as bacterial sequencing if the suspicion of bacterial meningitis is high.

    View details for DOI 10.1099/acmi.0.000213

    View details for PubMedID 34151165

  • Reducing Piperacillin and Tazobactam Use for Pediatric Perforated Appendicitis. The Journal of surgical research Seddik, T. B., Rabsatt, L. A., Mueller, C. n., Bassett, H. K., Contopoulos-Ioannidis, D. n., Bio, L. L., Anderson, V. D., Schwenk, H. T. 2020; 260: 141–48

    Abstract

    Although perforated appendicitis is associated with infectious complications, the choice of antibiotic therapy is controversial. We assess the effectiveness and safety of an intervention to reduce piperacillin and tazobactam (PT) use for pediatric acute perforated appendicitis.This is a single-center, retrospective cohort study of children 18 y of age who underwent primary appendectomy for perforated appendicitis between January 01, 2016 and June 30, 2019. An intervention to decrease PT use was implemented: the first phase was provider education (April 19, 2017) and the second phase was modification of electronic antibiotic orders to default to ceftriaxone and metronidazole (July 06, 2017). Preintervention and postintervention PT exposure, use of PT ≥ half of intravenous antibiotic days, and clinical outcomes were compared.Forty children before and 109 after intervention were included and had similar baseline characteristics. PT exposure was 31 of 40 (78%) and 20 of 109 (18%) (P < 0.001), and use ≥ half of intravenous antibiotic days was 31 of 40 (78%) and 14 of 109 (13%) (P < 0.001), in the preintervention and postintervention groups, respectively. There was no significant difference in mean duration of antibiotic therapy (10.8 versus 9.8 d), mean length of stay (6.2 versus 6.5 d), rate of surgical site infection (10% versus 11%), or rate of 30-d readmission and emergency department visit (20% versus 20%) between the preintervention and postintervention periods, respectively.Provider education and modification of electronic antibiotic orders safely reduced the use of PT for pediatric perforated appendicitis.

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jss.2020.11.067

    View details for PubMedID 33340867

  • Risk Factors of Ambulatory Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infection in Pediatric Short Bowel Syndrome. JPEN. Journal of parenteral and enteral nutrition Seddik, T. B., Tian, L., Nespor, C., Kerner, J., Maldonado, Y., Gans, H. 2019

    Abstract

    BACKGROUND: Children with short bowel syndrome (SBS) receiving home parenteral nutrition (HPN) are predisposed to ambulatory central line-associated bloodstream infection (A-CLABSI). Data describing risk factors of this infection in children are limited.METHODS: Retrospective cohort, single-center, case-crossover study of children ≤18 years old with SBS receiving HPN from January 2012 to December 2016. Univariate and multivariate mixed effect Poisson regression identified the relative risk (RR) of A-CLABSI with proposed risk factors.RESULTS: Thirty-five children were identified; median follow-up was 30 months. A-CLABSI rate was 4.2 per 1000 central line (CL) days. Univariate analysis identified younger age (RR: 0.92 per 12-month increase [95% confidence interval {CI}: 0.85-0.99; P = 0.036]), shorter small intestine length (RR: 0.96 per 10-cm increase [95% CI: 0.92-0.99; P = 0.008]), lower citrulline level (RR: 0.86 per 5-nmol/mL increase [95% CI: 0.75-0.99; P = 0.036]), and recent CL break (RR: 1.55 [95% CI: 1.06-2.28; P = 0.024]) as risk factors for A-CLABSI. Multivariate analysis showed increased A-CLABSI with clinical diagnosis of small intestine bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) (RR: 1.87 [95% CI: 1.1-3.17; P = 0.021]) and CL breaks (RR: 1.49 [95% CI: 1-2.22; P = 0.024]).CONCLUSIONS: Factors influencing gut integrity increase A-CLABSI rate, supporting translocation as an important mechanism and target for prevention. Clinical diagnosis of SIBO increases A-CLABSI rate, but whether dysbiosis or diarrhea is responsible is an area for future research. CL maintenance is crucial, and prevention of breaks would likely decrease A-CLABSI rate.

    View details for DOI 10.1002/jpen.1667

    View details for PubMedID 31179578