About sepsis

About sepsis

Frequently asked questions about sepsis

What is Sepsis?

Sepsis is the body’s extreme response to an infection. It is a life-threatening medical emergency, that can derive into multiple organs’ failure. It happens when an infection you already have triggers a chain reaction throughout your body

What are the most common causes of Sepsis?

While any type of infection — bacterial, viral or fungal — can lead to sepsis, infections that more commonly result in sepsis include infections of:

  1. Lungs, such as pneumonia.
  2. Kidney, bladder and other parts of the urinary system.
  3. Digestive system.
  4. Bloodstream (bacteraemia)
  5. Catheter sites.
  6. Wounds or burns.

What do we know about sepsis?

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. It causes symptoms such as fever, chills, rapid breathing, and confusion. Anyone can get sepsis, but the elderly, children, and infants are most vulnerable.

What is the average cost of treating a sepsis patient?

A sepsis patient treatment costs between €40.000 – €60.000, that can be reduced by speeding up the treatment time and reducing potential risk of Septic shock leading to death.
To place this into a financial perspective, the global Health care cost each year is between 2 – 3 Trillion Euros / or 2.2 – 3.3

Which is the most vulnerable group of people?

The Major groups being affected in numbers:

  1. Children under 5 years of age
  2. Older children and adults
  3. Maternal i.e. women during pregnancy, or post pregnancy