Telethon 2026: Funding helping researchers to develop world-first test to diagnose sepsis in newborns

Testing newborns for sepsis will be faster and more accurate under a world-first blood test being developed in WA that could save the lives of thousands of babies every year. Neonatal sepsis is a serious infection that can kill babies or cause lifelong disabilities if not picked up quickly. A decade ago, while sharing beers at a pub, researchers Andrew Currie from Murdoch University and Tobias Strunk from the Child and Adolescent Health Service resolved to focus their energies on developing a speedier test to diagnose sepsis in newborns. Thanks to ongoing funding from Telethon, the process they pioneered could be in hospitals within two years. Clinical Professor Strunk said babies born premature were particularly vulnerable to sepsis. “An untreated infection can have catastrophic outcomes,” he said. “(This test) will accelerate the response.