World Sepsis Day: Learn to Spot the Signs

Tomorrow is World Sepsis Day, an opportunity to turn the spotlight on a devastating disease that is common but unfamiliar. Once it takes hold, up to a third of patients die from it, says the Sepsis Alliance. In fact, sepsis kills more Americans every year than breast cancer, colon cancer and HIV/AIDScombined, yet most Americans (60 percent) have never heard of it, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Sepsis is an illness that causes a severe physical response to infections. It occurs when chemicals released into the bloodstream to fight the infection cause inflammation throughout the body. This inflammation can trigger a cascade of changes that can hurt multiple internal systems, causing organ failure. If sepsis progresses to septic shock, it can lead to a fatal drop in blood pressure.

This World Sepsis Day, take time to learn the signs:

• body temperature above 101 F or below 96.8 F;
• heart rate higher than 90 beats a minute;
• respiratory rate higher than 20 breaths a minute; and
• probable or confirmed infection.

Symptoms of severe sepsis include at least one of the following, which indicate an organ may be failing:

• significantly decreased urine output;
• abrupt change in mental status;
• decrease in platelet count;
• difficulty breathing;
• abnormal heart pumping function; and
• abdominal pain.

Use this information on World Sepsis Day and beyond. If you suspect that you are suffering from sepsis, contact your doctor or visit an emergency departmentimmediately. Describe your symptoms and ask if they indicate sepsis. There are few therapeutic options that specifically treat sepsis. The best course of action is to administer fluids and antibiotics as soon as possible.

Following closely on the heels of World Sepsis day, join us to will celebrate Sepsis Heroes to honor survivors and champions. The Sepsis Alliance — a national organization that the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research helped to launch — will host the third annual event in Manhattan on September 18.

This post was written by Martin Doerfler, MD, vice president of evidence-based clinical practice at the North Shore-LIJ Health System.

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