Five Things You Need To Know About Sepsis

Each year, approximately 49 million people worldwide are affected by sepsis. Yet, an estimated 35% of U.S. adults have never heard of it.

Whether you work directly with patients or not, knowing the risks and spotting the signs of sepsis are critical to providing quality patient care—and to saving lives!

Wednesday, Sept.13 is World Sepsis Day, and the month of September is Sepsis Awareness month; it's the perfect time to learn how you can help to keep our patients safe from sepsis. We’ve put together five questions and answers to get you started. For a deeper dive, take the sepsis awareness quiz at the bottom for a chance to learn more and win some Carilion swag!

1. What is sepsis?
Sepsis is the body’s overwhelming and life-threatening response to infection, which can lead to tissue damage, organ failure and death. It's also the leading cause of death in U.S. hospitals, including ours. So, fighting sepsis is one of our biggest challenges to keep our patients safe and we need everybody’s help!

2. What causes sepsis?
When germs get into a person's body, it can cause an infection. Anyone can be at risk for sepsis if that infection isn't stopped. And anyone can get an infection. Almost any infection, including COVID-19, can lead to sepsis, but bacterial infections cause most cases of sepsis.

3. Who can get sepsis?
You can't spread sepsis to other people. However, an infection can lead to sepsis, and you can spread some infections to other people.

While sepsis can impact anyone, including the sick, the well and people of all ages, some groups are more likely to be affected. These include adults 65 or older, children younger than one, sepsis survivors and people with weakened immune systems, chronic medical conditions (i.e., diabetes, lung disease, cancer and kidney disease), or recent severe illness or hospitalization.

Some populations are also more at risk. Black individuals bear nearly twice the burden of sepsis deaths, relative to the size of the Black population, as compared to white individuals.

4. What are the symptoms of sepsis?
When it comes to sepsis, remember It's About TIME™:

T–Temperature: higher or lower than normal
I – Infection: may have signs or symptoms of infection
M – Mental Decline: confused, sleepy, difficult to rouse
E – Extremely ill: severe pain, discomfort, shortness of breath

For every hour treatment is delayed, the risk of death increases by 4% - 9%. As many as 80% of sepsis deaths could be prevented with rapid diagnosis and treatment.

5. How can I reduce my risk of getting sepsis?

• Prevent infections that can lead to sepsis by taking good care of chronic conditions and getting your recommended vaccines.
• Practice good hygiene by washing your hands and keeping cuts clean and covered until healed.
• Know the signs and symptoms. A patient with sepsis might have one or more of the above symptoms; a medical assessment by a health care professional is needed to confirm sepsis.
• Act fast. Sepsis is a medical emergency.

Quiz

Learn more about sepsis and how you can help patients sooner. Take this quiz and be entered into a drawing to win Carilion swag.

You'll find the answers to the quiz questions above. Fill out your answers on this webform by Friday, Sept. 29 for a chance to win!