What is sepsis?
Septicemia (scientific name sepsis) is a serious, sometimes fatal extending disease, which is caused by an infection, usually by bacteria or their products (toxins). Sepsis is an inflammatory reaction of the whole body in response to an infection.
What causes sepsis?
The entry of bacteria into the bloodstream may be the result of an inflamed wound, or select (e.g., a dial with a crown that has had a nerve treatment and thus no warning signal more can give off), infection of an organ system (pneumonia, cystitis (urinary tract infection) or skin infection). Important consequences of this inflammatory reaction include reduction in blood pressure, fever, rapid pulse, or together referred to as hot shock. Central is also a reduction in the perfusion of the organs through which the supply and uptake of oxygen is compromised. The organs may be damaged. If it's multiple organs is called multi-organ failure (also known under the acronym MOF, or better MODS (multiple organ dysfunction syndrome)). Sometimes the damage is temporary, especially if there is timely intervention and the supply of oxygen is rapidly restored. The organ damage can also be definitive and may ultimately lead to death.
Susceptibility to sepsis
As with many diseases are very young children, old people and patients with impaired immune system vulnerable. A well-known example of a form of blood poisoning is the meningococcal sepsis (= blood poisoning by the bacterium which also causes meningitis or meningitis). This disease can proceed so quickly that the patient at the time of diagnosis is sometimes save all anymore.
Sepsis symptoms or diseases
- high fever
- tachycardia (rapid heartbeat)
- tachypnea (rapid breathing)
- cold shivers
- extremely white gums
- hypotension (low blood pressure)
- confusion
- decreased urine output
- initially small, later sometimes rapidly expanding bleeding into the skin (petechiae and purpura)
- edema
- disseminated intravascular coagulation
Sepsis diagnosis
The diagnosis of septicemia could be confirmed by bacteria or other micro-organisms in the blood (blood culture) or can be found in other under normal conditions sterile body fluids.
Risk groups
- People with crowns (often electoral undergo treatment and nerve inflammation may be dormant for years: difficult of)
- Cancer patients in particular, that have been treated with chemotherapy
- The elderly because they often have less properly functioning immune system
- Children under four years
- Postoperative patients (= after surgery)
- Patients with a weakened immune system (AIDS patients and patients with immune suppressive drugs, for example in Crohn's disease or rheumatoid arthritis)
Sepsis treatment
The patient should be treated as soon as possible. This treatment should be done in many cases in an intensive care unit and always consists of several components. Administration of antibiotics to kill the bacteria; administration of large amounts of moisture to keep the blood to the organs levels; administration of potent drugs which improve blood circulation. Sometimes, surgery is needed to remove the site of inflammation in the body. Not infrequently, a patient has to be artificially respirated also because the lungs are affected and / or the strength of patient breathing is inadequate. The mortality due to sepsis in countries with modern health care, including proper intensive care facilities, about 30 to 40%.
Recently, a worldwide campaign started (The Surviving Sepsis Campaign) in order to minimize the risk of sepsis patients in a good recovery as large as possible.