Severe Sepsis
Severe sepsis results from an exaggerated response of the body to infection. The condition is said to be the most common cause of death in noncoronary intensive care units (ICUs). Severe sepsis can be a progressive condition and the risk of death increases as the severity of the sepsis increases.
What is Severe sepsis?
Severe sepsis occurs when the body´s normal response to infection spirals out of control. At its worst, it is a chain of events involving inflammation and clotting that can result in multiple organ failure and death. Multiple organ failure exists when two or more of the body´s organ´s or systems start to dysfunction; this can include cardiovascular failure which may result in septic shock.
Sepsis often arises outside the ICU, as a consequence of infection in medical and surgical patient, thus, early recognition and treatment is encouraged throughout the hospital in order to treat this potentially deadly disease effectively.
What causes severe sepsis?
Severe sepsis is triggered by a bacterial, viral, parasitic or fungal infection, often the result of events such as trauma, surgery and burns, or illnesses such as cancer and pneumonia. Severe sepsis can affect anyone at any age but certain groups may be more vulnerable than others, for example those with weakened immune systems (the immuno-compromised) and the elderly.
How common is severe sepsis?
In the UK, the prevalence of severe sepsis in the adult Intensive Care Unit is 27.7%, which amounts to an estimated 23,211 cases per year1 There is a 44.7% hospital mortality rate associated with severe sepsis, which means that there are an estimated 10,375 deaths per year in the UK1
Reference
1Intensive Care National Audit and Research Centre. Case Mix Programme Database, 2001. ICNARC data, based on the number of cases identified in the first 24 hours of admission to ICU
Last Updated: 24-Dec-04
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