Early symptoms include fever and feeling unwell, faint, weak, or confused. You may notice your heart rate and breathing are faster than usual. If it's not treated, sepsis can harm your organs, make it hard to breathe, and mess up your thinking.
People with sepsis often develop a hemorrhagic rash—a cluster of tiny blood spots that look like pinpricks in the skin. If untreated, these gradually get bigger and begin to look like fresh bruises. These bruises then join together to form larger areas of purple skin damage and discoloration.
Bacterial infections cause most cases of sepsis. Sepsis can also be a result of other infections, including viral infections, such as COVID-19 or influenza, or fungal infections.
The early symptoms of sepsis include: a high temperature (fever) or, due to changes in circulation, a low body temperature instead. chills and shivering.
As severe sepsis usually involves infection of the bloodstream, the heart is one of the first affected organs.
Most symptoms of post-sepsis syndrome should get better on their own. But it can take time.
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.
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.
Sepsis and Other Blood Infections
The most common type of blood infection is known as sepsis, “a serious complication of septicemia. Sepsis is when inflammation throughout the body occurs. This inflammation can cause blood clots and block oxygen from reaching vital organs, resulting in organ failure.
A blood culture test helps your doctor figure out if you have a kind of infection that is in your bloodstream and can affect your entire body. Doctors call this a systemic infection. The test checks a sample of your blood for bacteria or yeast that might be causing the infection.
Doctors use a number of medications to treat sepsis, including: intravenous (IV) antibiotics to fight the infection. medications to increase blood pressure.
On average, the recovery period from this condition takes about three to ten days, depending on the appropriate treatment response, including medication.
A person with sepsis might have one or more of the following signs or symptoms: High heart rate or weak pulse. Fever, shivering, or feeling very cold. Confusion or disorientation.
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.
Severe breathlessness or sleepiness. It feels like you're going to die or pass out. Skin mottled or discoloured. An extremely high or a very low temperature; repeated vomiting; seizures; and a rash which doesn't fade when you press a glass against it are also possible 'red flags'.
When treatment or medical intervention is missing, sepsis is a leading cause of death, more significant than breast cancer, lung cancer, or heart attack. Research shows that the condition can kill an affected person in as little as 12 hours.
Weakness or aching muscles. Not passing much (or any) urine. Feeling very hot or cold, chills or shivering. Feeling confused, disoriented, or slurring your speech.
"When an infection reaches a certain point, this can happen in a matter of hours." Sepsis usually starts out as an infection in just one part of the body, such as a skin wound or a urinary tract infection, Tracey says.
Sepsis is a potentially life-threatening condition that occurs when the body's response to an infection damages its own tissues. When the infection-fighting processes turn on the body, they cause organs to function poorly and abnormally. Sepsis may progress to septic shock.
A typical routine blood test is the complete blood count, also called CBC, to count your red and white blood cells as well as measure your hemoglobin levels and other blood components. This test can uncover anemia, infection, and even cancer of the blood.
Germs that do not grow in lab cultures: Certain types of bacteria, fungi, and viruses are difficult or impossible to grow in the laboratory. A person infected with one of these germs can have a negative test result even when they have an infection.
Blood Test Can Quickly Identify Viral or Bacterial Infections.