Disease In Focus: Sepsis

Welcome to another edition of Disease in Focus.

Today's issue will tackle Sepsis, a killer disease that causes six to nine million deaths worldwide annually. About 1 out of 5 people who develops sepsis dies and those who survive are left with life-changing effects.

Also called septicemia and often referred to as blood infection, it is a life threatening condition arising when our body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs.

During infection, our body's immune system fight back and releases chemicals in the bloodstream. In rare cases, this aggressive and uncontrolled immune response trigger inflammation throughout the body.

Causes, Risks & Symptoms

Any bacterial, viral or fungal infection can lead to sepsis but the most primary sources of infection resulting to sepsis are the lungs, the abdomen and the urinary tract with 50% of all cases starting from a lung infection.

Staphylococci, a gram-positive bacteria are thought to cause more than 50% of sepsis while Streptococcus pyogenes, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Klebsiella are also implicated. About 5% of severe sepsis and septic shock cases are fungal in nature with Candida as the most common cause.

Anyone is at risk of having a sepsis and it can starts from something minor like a simple wound. People with serious medical problems like appendicitis, pneumonia, meningitis, or UTI are also at risk. The following groups of people have greater risk of acquiring sepsis:

• People with compromised immune system due to illnes like HIV/Aids or cancer
• People who take drugs that suppress the immune system like steroids
• Newborn babies
• Elderlies with other health problems.

Sepsis have many different symptoms and failing to detect it early could be fatal. Early signs include a rapid heart rate, less than normal urination, and high blood sugar. Fever, low body temperature, rapid breathing, confusion and edema are frequently associated with sepsis.

_{from sepsis.org}

In severe cases, patient can have diarrhea, nausea, vomiting or even slurred speech. Low urine output is a key sign of severe sepsis. Septic shock happens when a patient's blood pressure drops to dangerously low levels leaving the patient faint or dizzy.

Below is an image of the different levels of sepsis and its progression:

_{Sepsis Steps - a training tool for sepsis progression from Wikipedia}

Diagnosis and Treatment

Diagnostic tests should be done within the first few hours of suspected sepsis to prevent serious complications. But unlike any diseases, sepsis cannot be diagnose with a single test. After evaluating your symptoms, reviewing your medical history and other tests results that may indicate possible infections, your doctor may conduct Complete Blood Count (CBC), Lactate Test, C-reactive Protein (CRP), Blood Culture, Prothrombin time and partial thromboplastin time (PT and PTT), platelet count, and d-dimer. Urinalysis and Urine Culture are also ordered to determine possible infections in urinary tract and kidney. Three additional confirmatory tests are needed for doctors to confirm diagnosis. These are the Endotoxin Test, Procalcitonin (PCT), and SeptiCyte Test. Since sepsis could develop from any infections, specific laboratory tests for Pneumonia, Meningitis, Strep Throat, Influenza and skin infections are also carried out.

Treatment

Sepsis is deadly if left undetected and untreated and alll suspected cases should be treated as medical emergency. Ideally, patients should be confined in Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

At the first signs of suspected sepsis, treatment of fluids and antibiotics should be immediately administered.
Broad-spectrum antibiotics or antibiotics that are effective against the more common bacteria are intravenously given to patients to ensure quick and efficient absorption into the blood system. IV fluids are also constantly given to patients to keep blood pressure from dropping low. Also, fluids help organs to function properly and reduce possible damage from sepsis. Saline and other colloids like albumin and dextran are commonly used to boost body fluid volume.

Recently, a group of scientists at the University of California, Riverside discovered that the human protein resistin decreases the number of pro-inflammatory cykotines making it a potential treatment against sepsis.

What Can You Do?

There are several ways to reduce risk of developing sepsis. First, we should get ourselves and our children vaccinated against common diseases. In case of bacterial infections, we should take antibiotics prescribed by a doctor. Taking these antibiotics properly is a must to prevent drug resistance. Keeping our wounds and skin infections properly cleaned and treated would prevent any infections from spreading. Preventing bacteria from spreading to our body can be also reduced by proper handwashing and by maintaining a clean environment.

_{Disclaimer: Disease in Focus is written to provide information but should not be used as basis for diagnosis and treatment. If you have symptoms of any disease discussed here, please seek advice from medical professionals.}

_{Sources: Wikipedia | Sepsis Alliance | WebMD | Newswise | UCRToday | Whnt}

---

Stay healthy! Follow Random Collective by @st3llar.

---