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 Pathophysiology

Sepsis Diagnosis

Diagnosis and Treatment of Sepsis in Newborns

Sepsis: Identifying the Signs and Administering First Aid

Sepsis and Pregnancy

Sepsis and Influenza

Sepsis Epidemiology

The Stages of Sepsis

Sepsis at the Molecular Level

Sepsis History

Causes and Symptoms of Sepsis in Newborns

See more featured articles »

How Antimicrobial Resistance Amplifies the Burden of Sepsis

Sepsis Prevention

Lactate Levels and Sepsis

Recovering from Sepsis

The Development of a Sepsis Scoring System in a Murine Model

Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) and Sepsis

Sepsis Complications and Prevention

Latest Sepsis News and Research

Early TB treatment before sepsis diagnosis could save countless lives

Tuberculosis (TB) is a major unrecognized cause of deadly sepsis among people with HIV in Africa, a sweeping new study reveals. Beginning treatment for TB immediately – even before sepsis patients are diagnosed with TB – could save countless lives, the researchers say.

30 Jan 2026

New mode of communication inside cells helps bacterial pathogens to evade drugs

Biologists have uncovered a new mode of communication inside cells that helps bacterial pathogens learn how to evade drugs.

30 Jan 2026

New guide for clinicians aims to improve UTI care

Millions of times a year, Americans seek urgent treatment for painful, embarrassing urinary tract infections.

29 Jan 2026

Scientists discover a non-classical platelet mechanism linked to severe infections

Platelets are small, anucleate blood cells that play an essential role in hemostasis. Their primary task is to recognize vascular injury, become activated, and aggregate via their surface receptor integrin αIIbβ3. This leads to the formation of a stable platelet plug that seals the wound and stops bleeding. When this process becomes dysregulated, however, it can result in vessel-occluding clots - so-called thromboses - which may cause myocardial infarction or stroke.

23 Jan 2026

Methionine: A dietary key to surviving infection

As soon as you are wounded-whether from grabbing a hot pan or contracting the flu-you begin a unique journey through variable symptoms toward either recovery or death.

22 Jan 2026

Major trial questions the need for invasive monitoring in heart surgery

Australians undergoing open-heart surgery could soon benefit from safer, simpler care and get home earlier thanks to the results of a world-first clinical trial led by Monash University's Victorian Heart Institute.

21 Jan 2026

UK patients seeking surgery overseas are returning with complications the NHS must treat

Outward medical tourism for surgery results in serious complications, creating challenges for the NHS and highlighting the need for better patient awareness.

16 Jan 2026

Raising the minimum wage is linked to fewer dangerous pregnancy complications

Findings indicate that higher minimum wages are linked to reduced maternal hypertensive disorders, emphasizing the impact of economic policy on health outcomes.

16 Jan 2026

Phase II clinical trial shows promising results for novel sepsis drug

Griffith University researchers may have unlocked the secret to treating sepsis, with a Phase II clinical trial in China successfully concluding with promising results.

14 Jan 2026

Age-tailored therapies needed for treating the young and old with sepsis

Dealing with an infection isn't as straightforward as simply killing the pathogen. The body also needs to carefully steer and monitor its immune response to prevent collateral damage.

14 Jan 2026

Federal hospital safety metric fails to accurately assess emergency stroke care

A new UCLA study reveals that a widely used federal hospital safety metric is fundamentally flawed when applied to emergency stroke care, potentially creating incentives that may discourage hospitals from performing lifesaving procedures for the sickest patients.

8 Jan 2026

A single immune protein may help explain why kidney and heart disease often develop together

This review synthesizes clinical, genetic, and mechanistic evidence showing that suPAR and related uPAR fragments are strongly associated with kidney, cardiovascular, and metabolic disease risk. It highlights suPAR as a stable biomarker of innate immune activation with potential pathogenic roles, while underscoring major gaps in assay standardization and therapeutic validation.

6 Jan 2026

Advertisements promising patients a ‘dream body’ with minimal risk get little scrutiny

Lenia Watson-Burton, a 37-year-old U.S. Navy administrator, expected that cosmetic surgery would get rid of stubborn fat quickly and easily — just as the web advertising promised.

1 Jan 2026

After outpatient cosmetic surgery, they wound up in the hospital or alone at a recovery house

Lisa Farris worried that a nasty infection from recent liposuction and a tummy tuck was rapidly getting worse. So she phoned the cosmetic surgery center to ask if she should head to the emergency room, she alleges in a lawsuit.

23 Dec 2025

Judge in nursing home bankruptcy case gives families fresh hope of compensation for injuries, deaths

A bankruptcy judge blocked an attempt by a nursing home chain's primary investor to shield himself from settlement payments and liability in lawsuits alleging hundreds of patient injuries and deaths, encouraging those pursuing millions in damages.

19 Dec 2025

Researchers develop AI-powered method for faster lung infection diagnosis

Lung infections like pneumonia are among the world's top killers - but diagnosing them is notoriously hard.

16 Dec 2025

GDF3 protein sustains harmful inflammation in aging immune cells

As people age, their bodies develop a dysfunctional immune system, which can leave older adults more susceptible to conditions like sepsis.

15 Dec 2025

Novel diagnostic approach enables detection of antibiotic resistance and pathogenicity in Klebsiella strains

Antibiotic resistance is one of the most pressing—and quietly advancing—challenges facing modern medicine. Among the most dangerous bacterial pathogens driving this crisis is Klebsiella pneumoniae, a microorganism capable of causing severe infections while evading both antibiotics and the human immune system.

15 Dec 2025

How delays and bankruptcy let a nursing home chain avoid paying settlements for injuries and deaths

Nancy Hunt arrived at an emergency room from a Genesis HealthCare nursing home in Pennsylvania in such dreadful shape, including maggots infesting her gangrened foot, that the hospital called an elder abuse hotline and then the police, her son alleged in a lawsuit.

9 Dec 2025

High BMI and poor physical fitness in adolescence linked to severe bacterial infections in adulthood

High BMI and poor physical fitness during later adolescence increase the risk of both contracting and dying from sepsis and other severe bacterial infections in adulthood, according to a study from the University of Gothenburg.

9 Dec 2025