Same-day infection testing helps children get the right treatment

When Willow Crowther became critically ill with pneumonia in March, doctors at Great Ormond Street Hospital discovered that her infection needed a different antibiotic. A test that reads genetic material in a respiratory sample helped identify the drug-resistant bacteria.

The ten-year-old from Kent eventually recovered from the infection after months in hospital. Her parents described their relief in a BBC report published today.

The approach, called metagenomic testing, searches for bacteria, viruses and fungi together, without requiring doctors to choose a particular suspect first.

An earlier GOSH pilot tested samples from 122 children. Its researchers reported that results prompted changes to antimicrobial treatment in roughly a quarter of tested samples, including stopping unnecessary medicines.

That pilot could not establish how much the test itself improved survival or shortened hospital stays; larger controlled studies are needed.

But it has already helped clinicians make more informed decisions. The BBC reports that testing is gradually reaching around 30 UK intensive care units, extending access to an approach that helped Willow receive effective treatment.

Sources

• BBC News — Same-day test helps doctors detect hidden infections in critically ill children
• Hammond and colleagues — Implementing rapid pan-microbial metagenomics in paediatric intensive care (2025 preprint)
• NHS Respiratory Metagenomics Network — How the service works