Sepsis (blood poisoning)

Main article: Human blood

Sepsis (blood infection ) is a general purulent infection that develops due to the penetration and circulation in the blood of various pathogens and their toxins. As a result, sepsis is a particularly life-threatening dysfunction of internal organs caused by dysregulation of the body's response to infection.

One of the most severe complications of purulent-septic infection of any localization is septic shock (bacterial-toxic).

This is a special reaction of the body, arising in response to the introduction of microorganisms or their toxins and expressed by severe systemic disorders.

Mortality

2021: World sepsis deaths rise 30% to 21.4m in 30 years

The total number of deaths from sepsis on a global scale increased from 16.5 million in 1990 to 21.4 million in 2021. Thus, over 30 years, the growth was approximately 30%. This is stated in materials released by Oxford University on September 17, 2024.

Sepsis is a life-threatening condition caused by an acute reaction of the body's immune system to an infection, leading to organ dysfunction. The reaction of the body provokes damage to its own tissues and organs and can lead to shock, multiple organ failure, and sometimes death, especially if sepsis is not recognized at an early stage and timely treatment is not started. Sepsis is usually caused by bacterial infections. Meanwhile, antibiotic resistance led to at least one million deaths every year from 1990 to 2023.

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According to the World Health Organization (WHO), it is antibiotic resistance that is one of the most serious threats to human health, food security and community development. The increase in the number of drug-resistant infections is expected to claim more than 39 million lives worldwide between 2024 and 2050.

According to experts, in 2021, 4.71 million deaths were associated with the resistance of bacteria to antibacterial drugs, including 1.14 million deaths due to antibiotic resistance. Among children under the age of five, the number of deaths due to antimicrobial resistance has halved, and among older people over the age of 70 - increased by 80%. Antimicrobial resistance is among the main determinants of clinical resistance to treatment and rapid development of sepsis and septic shock.^[1]

2017

Despite the use of modern antibacterial and chemotherapy drugs, mortality from sepsis remains at a consistently high level - 30-50% (data for 2017). Sepsis is responsible for one in five deaths in the world.

According to statistics, in 2017 alone, there were 48.9 million cases of sepsis worldwide and about 11 million deaths caused by the disease, accounting for almost 20% of all deaths in the ^[2]

Sepsis is the leading cause of maternal mortality, as well as that of newborns and children under the age of five. Experts estimate that 3 million newborns and 1.2 million children suffer from sepsis each year.

Risk groups

Vulnerable populations, such as the elderly, pregnant women, newborns, individuals with, HIV/AIDS,, cirrhosis,, cancer kidney diseases autoimmune diseases, and patients COVID-19 with and removed spleen, are at increased risk of developing sepsis.

According to the International Consortium for the Control of Nosocomial (Nosocomial) Infections, among all types of infections, the proportion of sepsis occurrence with the use of a catheter (catheter-associated bloodstream infections) is 33%. Clinical studies have shown that closed venous access systems are recommended to significantly reduce the risk of developing this type of bloodstream infection. The venous access system is considered closed when access to the catheter connector is not directly, but through a special device - a needle-free connector, which allows you to reduce the number of touches on the catheter connector and keep the venous channel closed from direct contact with the environment.

How the disease proceeds

Sepsis is a life-threatening reaction of the body to an infection manifested by fever, a violation of the activities of the cardiovascular, respiratory, nervous system. This is a progressive pathological process that excludes the possibility of self-treatment. If this dysfunction is not diagnosed in time at an early stage and timely treatment is not provided, it can lead to septic shock, multiple organ failure and death. The process can be caused by any type of infectious pathogen. Alarming signs and symptoms of its development include an increase or decrease in body temperature, chills, a change in mental state, difficulty breathing, fast heart rate, weakening pulse/low blood pressure, oliguria, blueness or marbling of the skin, cooling of the limbs, as well as severe pain or discomfort in the body^[3].

Treatment of the disease

Accurate early diagnosis and prescription of adequate antimicrobial treatment play a crucial role in improving outcomes in sepsis. If a patient receives therapy within the first hour of diagnosis, their chances of survival are approximately 80%. At the same time, in patients receiving incorrect antimicrobial therapy, the likelihood of survival is reduced by five times.

A particular danger in the treatment of this condition is the body's resistance to antimicrobial drugs, which can lead to the rapid development of the disease. Among patients with sepsis caused by drug-resistant pathogens, there is an increased risk of hospital mortality.

For 2021, sepsis therapy is still based on control of sources (foci of infection), proper prescription of antibiotics and maintenance treatment. In this type of therapy, physicians should prescribe broad-spectrum antimicrobials within the first hour of diagnosis. Under these conditions, optimizing the use of antibiotics is important to ensure successful therapy results, as well as to prevent the general resistance of the body to drugs.

Antibiotic resistance is a leading factor in the lack of clinical response to treatment and the rapid development of sepsis and septic shock. According to international recommendations, hemocultivation, which is the "gold standard" for diagnosing bloodstream infections, must be taken before antibiotic therapy is prescribed. It identifies viable pathogens, which makes it possible to assess their susceptibility to antimicrobials and prescribe targeted therapy.

Chronicle

2023: Apparatus for early detection of sepsis released

On January 18, 2023, San Francisco-based Cytovale announced the release of IntelliSep, a specialized diagnostic tool designed to quickly detect sepsis in patients. Read more here.

2022: Death of a television employee in India after a hair transplant

In India, one of the top managers of the television industry, Atar Rashid, died after a hair transplant procedure,  on December 2, 2022, the [1] medical journal Medical Xpress reported.

Rashid was the sole breadwinner for his family and sought a better life. He decided on a hair transplant, as appearance was his way of making money. All Indian TV's balding chief Atar Rashid wanted was to look beautiful and get married. But the seemingly harmless hair transplant did not go according to plan.

As a result of a hair transplant at a Delhi clinic, he developed sepsis and Rashid died, his mother , 62-year-old Asia Begum, said.

"My son died a very painful death. His kidneys failed and then every other organ failed, "she said  .

World Sepsis Day

To raise awareness of the condition, World Sepsis Day is held every year on September 13.

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