Sepsis

Sepsis is a life-threatening illness. Your body's response to a bacterial infection usually causes it. Your immune system goes into overdrive, overwhelming normal processes in your blood. The result is that small blood clots form, blocking blood flow to vital organs. This can lead to organ failure. Babies, old people and those with weakened immune systems are most likely to get sepsis. But even healthy people can become deathly ill from it.

Everything You Need To Know About Sepsis

Sepsis is a life-threatening systemic response to an infection. This article provides an overview of sepsis, including stages, diagnosis and treatment.

Sepsis Prevention

Sepsis and Pregnancy

Sepsis History

Diagnosis and Treatment of Sepsis in Newborns

The Stages of Sepsis

Sepsis and Influenza

Sepsis at the Molecular Level

Causes and Symptoms of Sepsis in Newborns

Sepsis Epidemiology

How Antimicrobial Resistance Amplifies the Burden of Sepsis

Sepsis: Identifying the Signs and Administering First Aid

See more featured articles »

Sepsis Pathophysiology

Recovering from Sepsis

Sepsis Diagnosis

The Development of a Sepsis Scoring System in a Murine Model

Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) and Sepsis

Lactate Levels and Sepsis

Sepsis Complications and Prevention

Latest Sepsis News and Research

More major insurance companies covering Kerecis intact fish-skin grafts as new studies show big benefits for burns and diabetic foot ulcers

Kerecis, the company pioneering the use of sustainably sourced fish‑skin grafts in cellular therapy and tissue regeneration, has significantly expanded U.S. insurance coverage, adding more than 40 million covered lives through recent policy updates across multiple large national and regional insurers, as well as state Medicaid programs.

3 Sep 2026

New optical imaging reveals metabolic activity of individual immune cells

A routine blood sample contains a diverse collection of immune cells that can reveal important clues about health and disease.

2 Sep 2026

Harvard scientists discover entirely new gene regulation system in mammals

For decades, scientists have understood that each of the roughly 20,000 genes in the human body carries the instructions for a single kind of protein.

2 Sep 2026

New nondestructive imaging technique tracks immune cell health

When a patient is facing certain cancers or an immune condition, clinicians turn to their white blood cells for clues about the progression of both diseases and their treatments.

1 Sep 2026

Breastmilk from cannabis users showed differences, but cannabis may not be the whole story

A narrative review found that maternal cannabis use may be associated with differences in breastmilk fat, protein, lactose, and the immune factor secretory immunoglobulin A, but evidence comes primarily from only two human studies and remains limited and inconsistent. The authors stress that maternal diet, food security, socioeconomic circumstances, and other forms of adversity could confound these associations and should be incorporated into future research.

31 Aug 2026

Machine learning maps changing immune response over time in sepsis

Researchers have mapped how the immune response in people with sepsis changes over time.

28 Aug 2026

Only three of 1,357 FDA-cleared AI devices tested patient outcomes

Researchers found that among 1,357 FDA-cleared or approved AI/ML-enabled medical devices, only 34 were linked to registered clinical trials and just three had been evaluated for patient-centered outcomes. The study highlights major gaps in prospective testing, demographic representation, transparency, and evidence showing whether medical AI meaningfully improves patients’ health.

20 Aug 2026

Researchers put olive and fish oil IV nutrition under the microscope

A systematic review of six randomized trials compared olive-oil-based and fish-oil-containing parenteral nutrition in hospitalized adults, examining infection, inflammation, oxidative stress, liver function, and clinical outcomes. The included studies involved diverse patient groups and lipid formulations, with substantial variation in outcomes and insufficient evidence for a meta-analysis.

18 Aug 2026

Two early-life findings stood out in children who later screened positive for autism risk

Children born very preterm were more likely than term-born children to screen positive for autism risk at age 5 using the Social Communication Questionnaire. Among very preterm children, cerebellar abnormalities at term-equivalent age and moderate-to-severe histologic chorioamnionitis were independently associated with higher autism screening risk, alongside male sex and higher social risk.

13 Aug 2026

UH College of Pharmacy secures funding for three major health studies

University of Houston College of Pharmacy researchers have secured more than $1 million in new funding to support three separate studies targeting sepsis, Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, and depression in patients with sickle cell disease.

11 Aug 2026

NEWS2 score may improve antibiotic decisions in suspected sepsis

A study of nearly 100,000 adults treated for suspected infection suggests that the National Early Warning Score (NEWS2), a score based on routinely collected vital signs that is widely used to identify patients at risk of clinical deterioration, may help clinicians identify which patients are most likely to benefit from immediate antibiotic treatment and which may safely undergo further evaluation before receiving antibiotics.

6 Aug 2026

Engineered extracellular vesicles counter deadly cytokine storms in mice

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted some severe consequences of unchecked respiratory disease, including cytokine storm.

31 Jul 2026

New mechanism linked to septic heart injury protection uncovered

Sepsis triggers widespread inflammation, circulatory failure and metabolic stress, and cardiac dysfunction is a common complication associated with sharply poorer outcomes.

31 Jul 2026

Bioresorbable sensor tracks deep-tissue lactate for over 10 days in animals

In animal models, the flexible implant captured local metabolic warning signs before selected systemic measurements and used them to guide earlier resuscitation.

27 Jul 2026

New bacterial control strategy helps revive failing last-line antibiotics

Antimicrobial resistance is one of the world's most alarming public health challenges, because the multidrug-resistant (MDR) gram-negative bacteria increasingly render even last-line antibiotics ineffective, leading to substantially higher mortality rates.

23 Jul 2026