Sepsis: The Body's Extreme Response to Infection

What it is

Sepsis is the body's overactive, extreme response to an infection — a life-threatening medical emergency. Without quick treatment it can lead to tissue damage, organ failure and death.

Causes

Sepsis happens when an infection you already have sets off a chain reaction throughout your body. Bacterial infections are the most common cause, but others can trigger it too, often in the lungs, stomach, kidneys or bladder. It can start from a small cut that gets infected or an infection after surgery — sometimes in people who didn't know they had an infection.

Who's most at risk

Anyone with an infection can get sepsis, but it's more likely in:

• adults 65 or older;
• people with chronic conditions such as diabetes, lung disease, cancer and kidney disease;
• people with weakened immune systems;
• pregnant women;
• children younger than one.

Symptoms

One or more of:

• fast breathing and heart rate;
• shortness of breath;
• confusion or disorientation;
• extreme pain or discomfort;
• fever, shivering or feeling very cold;
• clammy or sweaty skin.

Get medical care right away if you think you might have sepsis, or if an infection isn't improving or is getting worse. In severe cases sepsis can cause septic shock, when blood pressure drops dangerously low and several organs can fail.

Diagnosis

Your provider will take your medical history, do a physical exam including vital signs — temperature, blood pressure, heart rate and breathing — and likely order lab tests for signs of infection or organ damage, and perhaps an x-ray or CT scan to find the infection. Because other conditions can cause similar signs, sepsis can be hard to diagnose early.

Treatment

Treatment should start right away and usually includes:

• antibiotics;
• keeping blood flowing to the organs, which may mean oxygen and IV fluids;
• treating the source of the infection;
• if needed, medicines to raise blood pressure.

In serious cases people may need kidney dialysis or a breathing tube, and some need surgery to remove tissue damaged by the infection.

Prevention

Preventing sepsis means preventing infections:

• take good care of any chronic conditions;
• get recommended vaccines;
• practice good hygiene, such as handwashing;
• keep cuts clean and covered until they heal.

Sources

Based on "Sepsis," MedlinePlus, National Library of Medicine, drawing on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; a work of the United States government in the public domain.