Dr. Antonio C. Arrieta, Medical Director, Pediatric Infectious Disease

Dr. Antonio C. Arrieta is a nationally recognized expert in pediatric infectious diseases, currently serving as the Research Director for the Division of Infectious Diseases at CHOC. With a career spanning decades of clinical excellence, he specializes in treating complex community-acquired and nosocomial infections, with additional sub-specialized expertise in HIV medicine. As a respected physician leader, Dr. Arrieta previously served as president of the medical staff at CHOC and as division chief. He is now the division’s Research Director and continues to be active in patient care.

As a prolific researcher and HS Clinical Professor at the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, Dr. Arrieta focuses on improving outcomes for the most vulnerable pediatric populations. His recent work centers on investigating invasive fungal infections—specifically optimizing antifungal dosing for premature infants—as well as invasive pneumococcal infections and neonatal sepsis. His contributions to medical literature are extensive, including over 50 journal articles and numerous chapters in foundational texts such as the Textbook of Pediatric Infectious Diseases. He also serves on prestigious national panels for the IDSA and PIDS, helping to shape clinical practice guidelines for conditions like Aspergillosis and septic arthritis.

Dr. Arrieta’s international background and commitment to education further distinguish his practice. He earned his medical degree from Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia in Peru before completing his residency at Southern Illinois University and his fellowship training at Miller Children’s Hospital and UC Irvine. He is consistently honored as one of Orange County’s “Top Doctors” and has been recognized multiple times as Teacher of the Year. Fluent in Spanish, Dr. Arrieta remains a vital bridge for the diverse community he serves.

Locations

CHOC Specialists, Infectious Diseases
1201 W. La Veta Ave.
Orange, CA 92868
phone: 714-509-8403
fax: 714-509-4014

CHOC Health Center – Mission Viejo
26691 Plaza Suite 130
Mission Viejo, CA 92691

Education

• Medical School
  Universidad Peruana Cayetano, Heredia, Lima, Peru
• Residency
  Southern Illinois University, Springfield, IL
• Fellowship
  UCI Memorial/Miller Children’s Hospital, Long Beach, CA

Academic Appointments

• HS Clinical Professor, Department of Pediatrics
  University of California, Irvine School of Medicine

Administrative Appointments

• Infectious Diseases CHOC Specialists

Professional Organizations/Editorial Boards

• Panel member, PIDS/IDSA Aspergillosis Guidelines
• Associate Editor “Children’s” journal
• Associate Editor “Frontiers Pediatrics” Journal
• Panel member of the IDSA “Clinical Practice Guidelines for Septic Arthritis
• Fellow of the Infectious Diseases Society (FIDSA)
• Fellow of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society (FPIDS)

Honors and Awards

• CHOC Children’s Residency Program Teacher of the Year Award, multiple years
• OCMA Physician of Excellence Award, multiple years

Recent Research Presentations

Lee A, Tran M, Denslow A, Walti B, Bhakta K, Arrieta A. Optimizing Voriconazole Dosing In Premature Infants With Primary Cutaneous Aspergillosis: When Large Doses Are Necessary For Tiny Babies. Poster presentation to the 42nd Annual meeting of the European Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases (ESPID). May 20-24, 2024. Copenhagen, Denmark.

Ashouri N, Singh J, Nieves D, Gornick W, Arrieta A. Kawasaki Disease versus respiratory viral activity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Poster presentation at the 14th International Kawasaki Disease Symposium (IKDS). August 26-29, 2024. Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Buchbinder D, Arrieta A. Finding NEMO: Phenotypic and Functional Characterization of a Hemizygous Novel Variant (H413R) in the IKBKG Gene. Poster presentation at the 21st Biennial Meeting of the European Society for Immunodeficiencies (ESID), October 16-19, 2024. Marseille, France.

Nieves D. Osborne S, Cheung M, Zahn M, Arrieta A. Immunization Impact on Serotype Distribution of Invasive Pneumococcal Disease- Playing the Serotype Whack-A-Mole! Poster presentation ID Week, Los Angeles, CA. October 18, 2024.

Seymour C, Osborne S, Nicols A, Lee Y, Hung L, Ding X, Allard S, Pannaraj P, Arrieta A. Metagenomics reveals ecological dynamics of inflammation within the preterm infant gut. Poster presentation CIMB CMIC- Connecting Microbiome Communities conference. November 3-6, 2024. San Diego, CA

Arrieta A, Osborne S, Lee A, Tran T, Enriquez C, Nieves D. Determining the appropriateness of standard Cefepime dosing in septic pediatric cancer patients; a pilot study. Poster presentation at the European Congress of clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases-ESCMID Global 2025. April 11-15, 2025, Vienna, Austria.

Arrieta A, Osborne S, Strickland J, Grant L, Hulten K, Nieves D, Miller A, Bender C, Sommer L, Cane A, Arguedas A, Tort M, Gessner B. Urinary antigen and nasopharyngeal PCR for serotype detection among children ages 3-<72 months with upper respiratory infection community acquired pneumonia and healthy control. Interim report. Poster presentation at the 43rd Annual meeting of European Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases (ESPID). May 26-30, 2025. Bucharest, Romania

Arrieta A, Ulloa E, Osborne S, Jankeel A. Escherichia coli in febrile infants >28 days with invasive infections exhibit different virulence genotype than 3-28 days impacting central nervous system invasion. Poster presentation at the 43rd  Annual meeting of European Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases (ESPID). May 26-30, 2025. Bucharest, Romania

Strickland J, Osborne S, Nugent D, Hoang J, Enriquez C, Imfeld K, Arrieta A. Procalcitonin plasma and urine levels and urine/plasma procalcitonin ratio do not help discriminate urinary tract infection from other serious bacterial infections. Poster presentation at the 43rd  Annual meeting of European Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases (ESPID). May 26-30, 2025. Bucharest, Romania

Lee A. Tran T, Liu C, Capparelli E, Phal S, Enriquez C, Osborne S, Strickland J, Cohen-Wolkowiez M, Hornik C.D., Ashouri N. Nieves D, Shaw A, Singh J, Arrieta A.  Population pharmacokinetics and safety of continuous oxacillin in preterm and term neoanates and infants. Oral presentation at the 43rd  Annual meeting of European Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases (ESPID). May 26-30, 2025. Bucharest, Romania

Publications

Fireizen Y, Ahmed M, Vigers T, Akong K, Ryu J, Hahn A, Fanous H, Koumbourlis A, Tirakitsoontorn P, Arrieta A, et al. Changing epidemiology of pediatric pulmonary exacerbations in cystic fibrosis. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2025 Mar;60(3):e710109. Doi: 10.1002/ppul.71019. PMID 40018992

John R, Galvis A, Bucayu R, Schomberg J, Guner Y, Arrieta AC, Nieves DJ. Exploring oral antibiotics stewardship in nonoperative management of complicated appendicitis in pediatric patients. Antimicrob Steward Health Epidemiol. 2025 April;5(1):e101. PMID 40290181

Nieves DJ, Tran T, Singh J, Ashouri N, Morphew T, Lusk J, Adler-Shohet F, Marano R, Osborne S, Strickland J, Arrieta A. Remdesivir use in pediatric patients with acute SARS-CoV-2 infection is safe and well tolerated. Children 2025, 12(3), 331;doi.org/10.3390/children1203331. 6 March 2025

Arrieta A, Osborne S, Grant L, Gessner B, Blaschke A, Hulten K, Nieves DJ, Miller A, Bender C, Isturiz R, et al. Parapneumonic empyema complicating community acquired pneumonia; impact of pneumococcal vaccination and diagnostic role of molecular diagnosis. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2025 April. Doi:10.1097/INF.0000000000004833. PMID 40257269

Kuehn S, H, Bosticardo M, Arrieta AC, Stoddard J, Pala F, Neimela J, Gil Sival A, King P, Esteve-Sole A, Naveen A, Anaya E,et al. Thymic and T-cell intrinsic critical roles associated with severe combined immunodeficiency and Omenn syndrome due to a heterozygous variant (G201R) in PSMB10. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2025 April;155(4):1378-1385.e2 PMID 39734035

Lee A, Tran Tuan, Singh J, Arrieta A. Optimizing voriconazole dosing in extremely premature infants with Aspergillus infections.. Pediatr Infect Dis J 2025;XX:00-00. . DOI: 10.1097/INF.0000000000004868  PMID 40440717

Arrieta A, Kovanda L, Engelhardt M, Jones M, Croos-Dabrera R, Sinnar S, Desai A. “A plain language summary of the safety and effectiveness of Isavuconazole for the treatment of serious fungal disease in children with a weakened immune system”. Expert Review of Anti-Infective Therapy. 2025, Vol.23,NO.8, 1-7.

Fote G, Schafenacker A, Singh J, Sherlock D, Romero B, Himstead A, Davies J, Pedroza S, So J, Arrieta A, Gornick W, Wang R, Olaya J. Management of positive cerebrospinal fluid cultures from intraventricular reservoirs for CLN2 patients: One institution’s experience. Journal  of Neurosurgery. 2025 August. DOI:10.3171/2025.4.PEDS24452

Warris A, Rojo P, Groll AH, Arrieta A. Invasive mold Infections  in the Pediatric Setting: Current Status and New Developments. Submitted to Expert Review of Anti-infective Therapy. September 9, 2025.

Kang H, Arrieta A, Dhooge C, Keleman A, Macias-Parra M, Aranda L, Dinikina Y, Kassis I, Cesaro S, Shepherd A, Shah A, Mackey T, Waskin H, Johnson M. Phase 2, open-label, non-comparative clinical trial evaluating safety and efficacy of posaconazole in pediatric patients with proven/probable invasive aspergillosis or possible invasive fungal disease”. Accepted for publication. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. November 27, 2025

Book Chapters

Arrieta, A. Congenital Rubella Review. UptoDate. September 23, 2021