Detection of Pathogens in Blood for Diagnosis of Sepsis and Beyond

Determining whether a patient has a microbial infection is a common clinical challenge. Sepsis is a case in point where clinical signs may be confused with causes other than infection, such as trauma. In this issue of EBioMedicine, Cartwright et al. describe a rapid blood test to discriminate between patients with microbial infections and those with sterile trauma (Cartwright et al., 2016). This is a ground-breaking and much-needed development.