Because sepsis is a medical emergency, recognizing the symptoms and getting medical attention right away is extremely important.
According to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), sepsis strikes more than one million patients each year in the U.S. and is known to impact more than 48,000 Veterans as well.
From small, infected cuts to bigger infections after surgery, sepsis can arise suddenly and progress quickly. Learning more about sepsis, how to recognize its symptoms, and what steps to take to prevent it may be life-saving advice for you or a loved one.
What Is Sepsis?
Sepsis is the body’s extreme response to an infection. It is a life-threatening medical emergency that occurs when an infection you already have triggers a chain reaction throughout your body that can lower your blood pressure to dangerous levels.
Bacterial infections are the most common cause of sepsis, but other types of infections can cause it too, including fungal, parasitic and viral infections like COVID-19. Infections that lead to sepsis most often start in the bladder, lungs, stomach or kidneys. Without timely treatment, it can lead to tissue damage, organ failure or even death.
Who Is At Risk?
Almost any infection can lead to sepsis – from a tiny bug bite to a severe case of pneumonia – but some people are at higher risk for developing infections and sepsis, including:
- Adults 65 years or older
- Children younger than one
- People who are pregnant or post-partum
- People who survived sepsis
- People with chronic conditions, such as diabetes, lung disease, cancer and kidney disease
- People with recent severe illness, surgery or hospitalization
- People with weakened immune systems
What Are the Symptoms of Sepsis?
Because sepsis is a medical emergency, recognizing the symptoms and immediately getting medical care is extremely important. Sepsis can cause one or more of the following symptoms:
- Clammy or sweaty skin
- Confusion or disorientation
- Extreme pain or discomfort
- Fever, shivering or feeling very cold
- Rapid breathing and heart rate
- Shortness of breath
In addition to learning about the symptoms of sepsis, pay attention to signs of local infection. For example, if you have a urinary tract infection, you may have symptoms such as pain or discomfort when urinating. If you have an infected cut, the surrounding skin may be red and the cut might have yellow pus. If not treated, these infections can become worse and become sepsis.
What Steps Should I Take to Prevent Sepsis?
You can take several steps to reduce your risk of developing sepsis, including:
- Practice good hygiene. Regular hand-washing is one of the easiest ways to prevent the spread of germs and help reduce your risk for infection or illness. Check out Hand-washing 101 for tips on how to ensure you’re washing properly.
- Take care of your chronic conditions. People with chronic conditions such as diabetes, lung disease, cancer and kidney disease are at increased risk for sepsis. Be sure to get regular care for these conditions and monitor your body for signs of infection.
- Get recommended vaccines. Vaccinations can prevent or reduce the severity of some infections that can lead to sepsis, such as COVID-19, pneumonia and more. Learn more about the importance of immunizations and use this recommended vaccine schedule to stay up to date.
- Keep cuts and wounds clean and covered. Every cut, scrape or break in the skin can allow bacteria to enter your body. When you get a cut, be sure to clean, treat and cover it properly until it is fully healed. Look out for signs of infection such as redness or warmth around the wound, discharge or increased pain. Talk to your health care provider right away if you suspect you have an infection that isn’t healing.
- Act fast. Sepsis is a medical emergency, and treatment needs to begin immediately. If you have an infection that’s not healing or is getting worse, get medical care immediately. Ask a health care professional, “Could this infection lead to sepsis?” Also ask if you should go to the emergency room. Research shows that rapid sepsis treatment is vital to your health, including getting antibiotics as soon as possible and maintaining good blood flow to your organs.
Resources
For more information on sepsis, including prevention tips, treatment options and more, check out the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s About Sepsis and the National Institutes of Health’s Surviving Sepsis. To see what new research and work is being done by VA to help improve outcomes for Veterans who develop sepsis, check out their Surviving SEPsis90 Campaign.