Sepsis is the body’s response to overwhelming and
life-threatening response to an infection. It can lead to tissue damage, organ
failure and death. It is also a growing medical issue around the country, as
Health Briefs TV learns.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, there have been more than one million cases of sepsis each year in
the US .
Symptoms include:
- Presence of an infection
- Elevated or lowered body temperature
- Fast heart rate
- Fast breathing rate
- Low blood pressure
If caught early enough, sepsis is treatable with fluid and
antibiotics. If it progresses quickly and is not treated quickly, patients can experience
an abrupt change in mental status, significantly decreased urine output,
abdominal pain and trouble breathing. Septic shock happens when someone has all
of the above symptoms, plus very low blood pressure, and does not respond to
fluid replacement.
The Health Briefs television show relays that sepsis can
happen to anyone with any type of infection. People can get sepsis in the
hospital or in the community. Medical professionals with training know that the
golden standard for treating sepsis is within one hour of diagnosing it.
Antibiotic treatment and fluid replacement is recommended but within that “golden
hour”. Readers should know that for
every hour delayed after sepsis is determined, the mortality risk of the
patient increases.
Sepsis -- also known as
septicemia, blood infection or blood poisoning, takes the lives of 258,000
people annually. This makes it the ninth leading cause of disease-related death
in the country. Don’t let someone you love become another statistic. Insist on
immediate action.
