Identification of bacterial pathogens in sudden unexpected death in infancy and childhood using 16S rRNA gene sequencing

Sudden Unexpected Death in Infancy (SUDI) is the most common cause of post-neonatal death in the developed world. Followingextensive investigation, the cause of ~40% of deaths remain unknown. It is hypothesised that a proportion of deaths are due toinfection that remains undetected due to limitations in routine techniques. This study aimed to apply 16S rRNA gene sequencing topost-mortem (PM) tissues from cases of SUDI, as well as those from the childhood equivalent (collectively known as SuddenUnexpected Death in Infancy and Childhood), to investigate whether this molecular approach could identify potential infectioncausing bacteria to enhance the diagnosis of infection.