Sepsis is not something you can treat at home. Go to the hospital or call 911 if you have symptoms. Sepsis is a rare complication of an infection and occurs when an extreme immune system response triggers widespread inflammation throughout the body.
Many people who survive sepsis recover completely and their lives return to normal. However, as with some other illnesses requiring intensive medical care, some patients have long-term effects.
Those initially diagnosed with septic shock clinically have a higher risk of death within 28 days. Progression from sepsis to severe sepsis or septic shock within the first week of diagnosis increases the chances of mortality.
Without quick treatment, sepsis can lead to multiple organ failure and death.
Sepsis, or the infection causing sepsis, starts before a patient goes to the hospital in nearly 87% of cases.
Sepsis can overwhelm the body. This can cause vital organs to shut down. This usually starts with the kidneys. Blood pressure can drop dangerously low.
It's clear that sepsis doesn't occur without an infection in your body, but it is possible that someone develops sepsis without realizing they had an infection in the first place. And sometimes, doctors never discover what the initial infection was.
The condition can arise suddenly and progress quickly, and it's often hard to recognize. Sepsis was once commonly known as “blood poisoning.” It was almost always deadly. Today, even with early treatment, sepsis kills about 1 in 5 affected people.
The first signs may include rapid breathing and confusion. Other common symptoms include: Fever and chills. Very low body temperature.
Blood tests may reveal the following signs suggestive of sepsis: Elevated or low white blood cells – Higher than usual levels of leukocytes, known as white blood cells (WBCs), are a sign of a current infection, while too few WBCs indicate that a person is at higher risk of developing one.
Ensuring the body has enough fluids helps the organs to function and may reduce damage from sepsis.
Healthcare professionals should treat sepsis with antibiotics as soon as possible. Antibiotics are critical tools for treating life-threatening infections, like those that can lead to sepsis.
Regardless of the cause, the pain can be severe and many survivors say it was the worst pain they had ever felt. Severe abdominal pain may also cause nausea and vomiting, which can in turn increase the pain and cause dehydration if you're not able to replace lost fluids.
Sepsis is known as the 'silent killer' because its symptoms often mimic that of other illnesses such as the flu or gastro. But, if it is identified and treated early, patients can recover.
Sepsis can develop quickly from initial infection and progress to septic shock in as little as 12 to 24 hours. 1 You may have an infection that's not improving or you could even be sick without realizing it.
If the infection has spread or you have a generalized infection, you may develop other signs and symptoms, such as fever, fatigue, pain, etc. Sometimes however, you may have an infection and not know it, and not have any symptoms.
Patients with severe sepsis have a high ongoing mortality after severe sepsis with only 61% surviving five years. They also have a significantly lower physical QOL compared to the population norm but mental QOL scores were only slightly below population norms up to five years after severe sepsis.
Some are sepsis mimics in that a patient does not have sepsis but has another syndrome that is mistaken for sepsis (eg, noninfectious febrile conditions, such as malignant hyperthermia and serotonin syndrome—see “Common presentations of rare drug reactions and atypical presentations of common drug reactions” in this ...
Bacterial infections are one of the most common causes of sepsis. Fungal, parasitic and viral infections are also potential sepsis causes. You can get sepsis when an infection triggers a chain reaction throughout your body causing organ dysfunction.
Unlike diseases or conditions like diabetes or kidney stones, there is no one test for sepsis testing. However, your doctor makes the diagnosis by evaluating your symptoms, your history, and other tests. This can then lead your doctor to suspect you have sepsis.
Signs of sepsis are: • Pale, blotchy or blue skin, lips or tongue. Blotchy skin is when parts of your skin are a different colour than normal. Sometimes it is hard to know if you or somebody you look after has sepsis, or if it is something else, like flu or a chest infection.
Most sepsis is caused by bacterial infections, but it can also be caused by viral infections, such as COVID-19 or influenza; fungal infections; or noninfectious insults, such as traumatic injury.