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.
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.
People with chronic medical conditions, such as neurological disease, cancer, chronic lung disease and kidney disease, are at particular risk for developing sepsis. And it is fatal. Between one in eight and one in four patients with sepsis will die during hospitalization – as most notably Muhammad Ali did in June 2016.
On average, the recovery period from this condition takes about three to ten days, depending on the appropriate treatment response, including medication.
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.
If an infection does occur, your immune system will try to fight it, although you may need help with medication such as antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals, and antiparasitics.
The early symptoms of sepsis include: a high temperature (fever) or, due to changes in circulation, a low body temperature instead. chills and shivering.
Ideally, antibiotic treatment should start within an hour of diagnosis. Intravenous antibiotics are usually replaced by tablets after 2 to 4 days. You may have to take them for 7 to 10 days or longer, depending on the severity of your condition.
Bacterial infections are the most common cause, but other types of infections can also cause it. The infections are often in the lungs, stomach, kidneys, or bladder. It's possible for sepsis to begin with a small cut that gets infected or with an infection that develops after surgery.
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.
An estimated 27% of people with sepsis in hospitals and 42% of people in intensive care units will die.
Hospital mortality of patients with septic shock is more than 40% (2). Sepsis is widely recognized as a highly life-threatening condition associated with a high rate of patient deaths during intensive care unit (ICU) stay in the whole world (3).
Sepsis is the body's extreme response to an infection. It is a life-threatening medical emergency. 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 lung, urinary tract, skin, or gastrointestinal tract.
Sepsis occurs unpredictably and can progress rapidly. In severe cases, one or more organ systems fail. In the worst cases, blood pressure drops, the heart weakens, and the patient spirals toward septic shock. Once this happens, multiple organs—lungs, kidneys, liver—may quickly fail, and the patient can die.
You cannot catch sepsis from another person. It happens when your body overreacts to an infection.
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'.
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.
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.
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.
Without rapid antibiotic treatment, it is possible for the person to go into septic shock and suffer from multiple organ failure, resulting in lifelong disability or even death. Clinicians are very concerned that patients with sepsis through infection with antibiotic-resistant bacteria may not respond to treatment.
Examples include ceftriaxone (Rocephin), piperacillin-tazobactam, cefepime (Maxipime), ceftazidime (Fortaz), vancomycin (Firvanq), ciprofloxacin (Cipro), and levofloxacin (Levaquin). If you have mild sepsis, you may receive a prescription for antibiotics to take at home.
About one-third of all sepsis survivors and more than 40% of older sepsis survivors have a repeat hospitalization within three months of their initial sepsis diagnosis. It is most often the result of a repeat episode of sepsis or another infection.
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.
Septic shock: Septic shock is the last stage of sepsis and is defined by extremely low blood pressure, despite lots of IV (intravenous) fluids.