Same-day Test Helps Doctors Detect Hidden Infections in Critically Ill Children
A pioneering same-day test has been used to detect hidden and drug-resistant infections among children in intensive care.
Respiratory samples from more than 100 critically ill young patients at London's Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) were sent for metagenomic testing, a method that identifies bacteria, viruses, and fungi from a single sample.
This approach, unlike traditional methods that require clinicians to specify what they're looking for, can detect infections that standard tests miss, potentially leading to better outcomes for critically ill patients.
'The test... saved her life'
Ten-year-old Willow Crowther became dangerously ill with pneumonia, triggering a seizure and multiple cardiac arrests. Admitted to GOSH's intensive care unit, her parents were told she had a 50% chance of survival.
Metagenomics was used to identify a drug-resistant bacterial infection that required a different antibiotic.
"The fact that they had a test... available to her was paramount. It saved her life," said her mother, Stacey Moore.
Willow eventually recovered but needed several months in hospital.
During a 2024-2025 study, metagenomic testing was used on 122 critically ill children in GOSH's paediatric intensive care unit. The results, published in The Lancet Microbe, showed that the test could identify around nine in 10 bacteria and viruses, and all fungi in samples.
In a quarter of cases, the results influenced prescribing decisions, including starting, stopping, or changing antibiotics.
"The study has helped us to spot infections we would have missed, get children on the right treatment, and stop antibiotics when we know they aren't going to work," said Dr. Sam Ray, consultant in paediatric intensive care medicine at GOSH.