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Efficacy of microbial cell-free DNA testing for detecting pathogens in pediatric patients with head and neck infections-An initial study.

Efficacy of microbial cell-free DNA testing for detecting pathogens in pediatric patients with head and neck infections-An initial study. Pediatric investigation Xu, A., Miranda, A., Lin, H. F., Din, T., Balakrishnan, K., Truong, M. T., Ahmad, I., Meister, K. 2025; 9 (2): 185-190

Abstract

We investigate the utility of microbial cell-free DNA (mcfDNA) from the blood to predict surgical culture results. In this study, only 26.9% of patients had mcfDNA results that were considered predictive of the causative organism(s). There was a significant burden of contamination in the cohort, emphasizing that dedicated protocols must be followed when running gene-based diagnostics. Healthy patients showed detectable mcfDNA signals, though typically at lower molecules per milliliter for similar pathogens.

View details for DOI 10.1002/ped4.12462

View details for PubMedID 40539015

View details for PubMedCentralID PMC12175633