Sepsis is a major contributor to hospital deaths, responsible for a significant portion, with estimates varying but often pointing to around 1 in 3 or even half of all in-hospital fatalities, making it the leading cause of death in U.S. hospitals and a major killer globally, though specific percentages fluctuate by region and study. It's a leading cause of death and disability, often arising from other infections and increasing mortality significantly with severity (septic shock), with rapid treatment crucial for survival.
Additionally, sepsis accounts for more than 50% of hospital deaths (3), and mortality increases dramatically with greater disease severity: 10–20% for sepsis, 20–40% for severe sepsis, and 40–80% for septic shock (4).
In the United States, sepsis takes a life every two minutes. 350,000 adults die from sepsis every year in the U.S. This is more than opioid overdoses, breast cancer, and prostate cancer combined. Sepsis is the leading cause of death in U.S. hospitals.
Sepsis is a condition that is responsible for or contributes to up to half of all deaths occurring in hospital. It's estimated that there are 55,000 cases of sepsis resulting in least 8700 deaths in Australia each year, yet few people have heard of sepsis and the prevalence of sepsis is increasing.
Sepsis causes approximately 1 in 5 deaths globally, with an estimated 49 million cases and 11 million sepsis-related deaths each year. The World Health Organisation is leading worldwide efforts to prevent, manage and treat sepsis. It published a report in 2020 about the global burden of sepsis.
In the U.S., about 1.7 million people get sepsis each year. It's a leading cause of death in hospitals each year in the U.S., claiming about 250,000 lives. Anywhere from one-third to one-half of people who die in the hospital have sepsis.
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%.
Australia's top three causes of death consistently include Dementia (including Alzheimer's disease), Ischaemic Heart Disease, and Chronic Lower Respiratory Diseases (like COPD), though their exact ranking can shift, with dementia often leading for women and heart disease for men, but the overall gap narrowing significantly, according to recent ABS data.
This includes bacterial, viral or fungal infections. Those that more commonly cause sepsis include infections of: Lungs, such as pneumonia. Kidney, bladder and other parts of the urinary system.
The research discussed here includes the following subset of the core measure sepsis bundle, the components of which must be completed within 3 hours of presentation time: measure serum lactate level, obtain blood cultures before administration of antibiotics, and administer broad spectrum antibiotics.
Commonly cited explanations for the increase in sepsis incidence include an aging population with more predisposing comorbidities, more frequent use of immunosuppression, more invasive procedures and medical devices, and the spread of multi-drug resistant pathogens (6-8).
Globally, Ischaemic Heart Disease (Coronary Artery Disease) remains the world's biggest killer, but regionally, Dementia (including Alzheimer's) has recently become the leading cause of death in countries like Australia, surpassing heart disease for females and overall, while heart disease leads for males. Other top causes globally include stroke, respiratory infections, lung cancer, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
With quick diagnosis and treatment, many people with mild sepsis survive. Without treatment, most people with more serious stages of sepsis will die. Even with treatment, 30% to 40% of people with septic shock, the most severe stage of sepsis, will die.
You get sepsis when your body has an extreme, damaging reaction to an infection (bacterial, viral, fungal, or parasitic), causing its own immune response to harm tissues and organs, leading to potential organ failure; it starts with any infection, like pneumonia, UTI, or a skin wound, and becomes a medical emergency when the body's defense system overreacts.
Between 10% and 15% of all sepsis cases are acquired in hospitals, translating into >200,000 adult cases annually in the United States. These patients have crude mortality rates of 20%–30%, twice as high as community-onset sepsis, and they account for >25% of all sepsis-associated deaths in US hospitals.
Septic shock is the final, most severe form of sepsis and also the most difficult to treat.
Who's more likely to get sepsis
Screening tools can help to identify potential patients that may require closer assessment for earlier intervention. The sepsis syndrome triad includes infection, the patient's individual response to that infection, and the resulting organ dysfunction.
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.
Dementia is one of the most feared conditions among Australian health service consumers, second only to cancer.
Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, has overtaken ischaemic heart diseases as the nation's leading cause of death, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) announced on Friday.
Australian Bureau of Statistics. "Dementia is Australia's leading cause of death." ABS, 14 November 2025, https://www.abs.gov.au/media-centre/media-releases/dementia-australias-leading-cause-death.
2. Severe Sepsis. Severe sepsis impacts and impairs blood flow to vital organs, including the brain, heart and kidneys. It can also cause blood clots to form in internal organs, arms, fingers, legs and toes, leading to varying degrees of organ failure and gangrene (tissue death).
[13, 14] Widespread use of antibiotics not only leads to selection for drug resistance and increases risk for Clostridium difficile infection (CDI), but also may increase a patient's risk for later development of sepsis.
Pink Picnics are social events where pink is used to signify the relation to World Sepsis Day. You can include pink salads or cupcakes, BBQs, treats, beverages, plates, other table decor...and whatever you can think of. Decorate using pink balloons.