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 Diagnosis

Causes and Symptoms of Sepsis in Newborns

Diagnosis and Treatment of Sepsis in Newborns

Sepsis Prevention

Recovering from Sepsis

Sepsis Epidemiology

Sepsis Pathophysiology

Sepsis at the Molecular Level

Sepsis and Pregnancy

Sepsis: Identifying the Signs and Administering First Aid

Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) and Sepsis

See more featured articles »

Sepsis Complications and Prevention

The Stages of Sepsis

How Antimicrobial Resistance Amplifies the Burden of Sepsis

Lactate Levels and Sepsis

Sepsis and Influenza

Sepsis History

The Development of a Sepsis Scoring System in a Murine Model

Latest Sepsis News and Research

New guidelines for health-care workers treating ICU patients with COVID-19

An international team including McMaster University researchers has come together to issue guidelines for health-care workers treating intensive care unit patients with COVID-19.

1 Apr 2020

Three Australian experts explain the course of COVID-19

Researchers have been studying the ongoing pandemic of COVID-19 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) closely since its beginning in December 2019. To date, the virus has infected over 850,000 individuals across the globe and killed over 41,000.

31 Mar 2020

Has COVID-19 affected diabetes care?

The COVID-19 pandemic is rampaging across continents, leaving death, fear, and uncertainty in its wake. The virus is known to cause more severe illness and have a higher death rate in people who are already sick or immunocompromised, as well as the elderly. Several nations, states, and provinces have announced total lockdowns to try and minimize the impact of the virus.

29 Mar 2020

Scientists uncover key molecular mechanism underlying different aspects of sepsis

Sepsis is a life-threatening condition that kills millions annually; it is poorly understood and has no specific treatment.

27 Mar 2020

Excessive salt intake weakens the immune system

A high-salt diet is not only bad for one's blood pressure, but also for the immune system. This is the conclusion of a current study under the leadership of the University Hospital Bonn.

25 Mar 2020

A high salt intake impairs immune response, study suggests

A study has shown that a high salt intake inhibits the immune system’s ability to combat bacteria.

25 Mar 2020

Researchers propose a stopgap measure to help Covid-19 patients in respiratory distress

Researchers at MIT and the University of Colorado at Denver have proposed a stopgap measure that they believe could help Covid-19 patients who are in acute respiratory distress.

24 Mar 2020

Mask shortage straps pharmacists who need them to keep medicines pure

Pharmacy staff who prepare IV drugs inside hospitals are the latest health care workers decrying a shortage of masks as they scramble to prepare medications for patients with everything from cancer to COVID-19.

20 Mar 2020

Research may pave the way to developing effective treatments for puerperal sepsis

Puerperal sepsis, also known as childbed fever, is the leading cause of maternal deaths. In this novel study in The American Journal of Pathology, published by Elsevier, scientists report on the discovery of group A streptococcus (GAS) surface proteins involved in female reproductive tract infections such as puerperal sepsis that may pave the way to developing vaccines and more effective treatments.

19 Mar 2020

Breast milk may help protect preemies from developing sepsis

A component of breast milk may help protect premature babies from developing sepsis, a fast-moving, life-threatening condition triggered by infection.

16 Mar 2020

New method will enable production of tailor-made vaccines

Vaccines can be far more targeted and effective than they are today. A new method will allow us to develop new vaccines more cheaply and efficiently and perhaps get one step ahead of bacteria.

13 Mar 2020

What does COVID-19 do to the body?

The novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, also known as 2019-nCoV, is the virus that causes COVID-19, and that is spreading throughout the world is causing panic in almost all countries. With a death rate ranging from 1% to 2% in young patients but about 5%-8% in elderly and sick patients, it is capable of ravaging multiple organ systems in the human body.

12 Mar 2020

Study shows how the body's inflammatory response can counterproductively suppress regeneration

In a new peer-reviewed publication, University of Illinois at Chicago researchers describe how the body's response to inflammation, which helps to fight many kinds of infections, also can counterproductively suppress much-needed cell repair and regeneration in blood vessels.

12 Mar 2020

Skin sensors for antenatal surveillance in developing countries

A new study published in March 2020 in the journal Nature Medicine reports the use of a wireless system of skin-mounted sensors to monitor the health of newborn babies in an inexpensive and versatile platform that can be adapted to the vast majority of healthcare settings with ease.

11 Mar 2020

Sphingotec’s bio-ADM can reliably support physicians in identifying high-risk sepsis patients

Diagnostics company SphingoTec GmbH today reported on new data on the utility of endothelial function biomarker bioactive Adrenomedullin

5 Mar 2020

New sepsis intervention enhances the body's bacteria-capturing neutrophil extracellular traps

Researchers at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia have developed a novel treatment for sepsis - one of the leading causes of hospital death - that enhances the body's bacteria-capturing neutrophil extracellular traps so that they more effectively capture infectious bacteria, resist degradation, and improve sepsis outcomes and survival.

5 Mar 2020

New NGS technique offers quick, accurate diagnosis of sepsis

A report in the Journal of Molecular Diagnostics, published by Elsevier, describes a new technique that uses real-time next-generation sequencing to analyze tiny amounts of microbial cell-free DNA in the plasma of patients with sepsis, offering the possibility of accurate diagnosis of sepsis-causing agents within a few hours of drawing blood.

5 Mar 2020

New computational algorithm tracks epidemiology of pediatric sepsis

Researchers at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) have developed a novel computational algorithm to track the epidemiology of pediatric sepsis, allowing for the collection of more accurate data about outcomes and incidence of the condition over time, which is essential to the improvement of care.

28 Feb 2020

New immunotherapeutic strategy shows promise to fight off infectious biofilms

The same way baking soda breaks down grease and grime, making surfaces easier to clean, researchers at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University now show that a new therapeutic molecule can break apart communities of harmful bacteria, opening the way for bacteria-killing antibiotics to more effectively clear out infections.

27 Feb 2020