Sepsis feels like getting very sick, very quickly, with symptoms like fever or chills, rapid breathing, confusion, extreme pain or discomfort, and feeling like you might die. It often involves a combination of a high or low temperature, rapid heart rate, shortness of breath, dizziness, and sometimes a rash that doesn't fade. Because it can progress rapidly and symptoms overlap with other illnesses, it's crucial to seek emergency care if you suspect sepsis.
Early warning signs of sepsis include fever or low temperature, chills, rapid breathing or heart rate, confusion, slurred speech, extreme pain or discomfort, clammy/sweaty skin, and reduced urine output, with children potentially showing fewer wet nappies, vomiting, or a non-fading rash. These symptoms, often appearing after an infection, signal a severe body response and require immediate emergency care, as sepsis can rapidly worsen, according to the Mayo Clinic.
The six main symptoms of sepsis are: Shortness of breath. Fever, chills, shivering, or feeling very cold. High heart rate or low blood pressure.
To check yourself for sepsis, watch for a combination of symptoms like fast breathing, rapid heart rate, confusion or drowsiness, fever or low temperature, shivering, extreme pain/discomfort, clammy skin, or a rash that doesn't fade, and decreased urination, especially if you have an infection. Sepsis is a medical emergency, so if you suspect it, seek immediate medical help by calling emergency services or going to the hospital.
Sepsis is your body's extreme reaction to an infection. When you have an infection, your immune system works to try to fight it. But sometimes your immune system stops fighting the infection and starts damaging your normal tissues and organs, leading to widespread inflammation throughout your body.
Sepsis can be hard to spot. At the start you may look okay but feel really bad. Call 999 if you or someone else has any of these signs of sepsis. Signs of sepsis are: • Pale, blotchy or blue skin, lips or tongue.
A consensus conference in 1991 defined “sepsis” as the combination of an infection with two or more features of what was called the “systemic inflammatory response syndrome” (SIRS): altered body temperature, elevated pulse rate, elevated respiratory rate and abnormal white blood cell count6.
Symptoms of sepsis
Sweating for no clear reason. Feeling lightheaded. Shivering. Symptoms specific to the type of infection, such as painful urination from a urinary tract infection or worsening cough from pneumonia.
At a glance. Sepsis is a fast-moving, life-threatening emergency caused by an extreme immune response to infection. Use TIME: Temperature, Infection, Mental decline, Extremely ill — to recognize sepsis symptoms early. Prevent sepsis by treating infections early, practicing hygiene and staying current on vaccinations.
Because sepsis can happen quickly, it is important to be alert for early signs. The most common signs include the following: Source of infection (cough, sore throat, abdominal pain, pain with urination) and fevers. High heart rate.
Many sepsis survivors have said that when they were ill, it was the worst they ever felt. It was the worst sore throat, worst abdominal pain, or they felt that they were going to die. Children developing sepsis may exhibit different symptoms, as seen below.
Some medical issues that can mimic the symptoms of sepsis are as follows:
Sepsis can be triggered by an infection in any part of the body. The most common sites of infection that lead to sepsis are the: lungs.
Stage 1: Sepsis
A high fever above 101℉ (38℃) or low temperature below 96.8℉ (36℃) A heart rate above 90 beats per minute. A bacterial infection, fungal infection, or viral infection confirmed through positive blood culture results. Rapid breathing rate higher than 20 breaths per minute.
You, your child or someone you look after: feels very unwell or like there's something seriously wrong. has not had a pee all day (for adults and older children) or in the last 12 hours (for babies and young children) keeps vomiting and cannot keep any food or milk down (for babies and young children)
The evidence behind the “golden hour” protocol
The main finding was that patients who received antibiotics within the first hour of sepsis recognition had a 79.9% chance of survival. It was also found that with every additional hour, the chance of survival decreased by 7.6%.
These conditions include anaphylaxis, gastrointestinal emergency, pulmonary disease, metabolic abnormality, toxin ingestion/withdrawal, vasculitis, and spinal injury.
Kidney failure can also be a result of sepsis. Sepsis can overwhelm the body. This can cause vital organs to shut down. This usually starts with the kidneys.
Sepsis is often misdiagnosed because the sufferer is not thoroughly assessed or the symptoms are misinterpreted. Unfortunately, this can happen because doctors and staff working in the NHS are sometimes overworked and stressed. Sadly, this can lead to things being missed or fatal errors.
The Sepsis Six consists of three diagnostic and three therapeutic steps – all to be delivered within one hour of the initial diagnosis of sepsis: Titrate oxygen to a saturation target of 94% Take blood cultures and consider source control. Administer empiric intravenous antibiotics.
Sepsis is diagnosed through a combination of rapid clinical assessment (fever, fast heart/breathing rate, confusion, low blood pressure) and tests like blood cultures, CBC, lactate, CRP, and urine/fluid analysis, often using tools like qSOFA, to find the infection source and check organ function, as there's no single test for it. Doctors look for signs of organ dysfunction alongside suspected infection, ordering imaging (X-rays, CT scans) to pinpoint the cause, with immediate antibiotic treatment crucial even before definitive results arrive.
These infections are most often linked to sepsis:
Sepsis happens when an infection you already have triggers a chain reaction throughout your body. Infections that lead to sepsis most often start in the: Gastrointestinal tract. Lung.
Fever is the most common presenting symptom in sepsis, but fever may be absent in some people, such as the elderly or those who are immunocompromised. The drop in blood pressure seen in sepsis can cause lightheadedness and is part of the criteria for septic shock.
Early warning signs of sepsis include fever or low temperature, chills, rapid breathing or heart rate, confusion, slurred speech, extreme pain or discomfort, clammy/sweaty skin, and reduced urine output, with children potentially showing fewer wet nappies, vomiting, or a non-fading rash. These symptoms, often appearing after an infection, signal a severe body response and require immediate emergency care, as sepsis can rapidly worsen, according to the Mayo Clinic.