topic Re: Information About Sepsis in Community Chat

Information About Sepsis

Noel7 — Thu, 31 Mar 2016 00:36:35 GMT

There have been a lot of questions about sepsis since the death of Patty Duke. This is important information for us all.

"Sepsis, a reaction to infection that leads to systemic organ failure, kills more than 258,000 Americans every year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, making it the ninth-leading cause of disease-related deaths in the country. While most people can fully recover from sepsis, some survivors are left with permanent organ damage or missing limbs due to amputation.

Despite these alarming facts, less than half of Americans have even heard of sepsis, according to polls conducted by the Sepsis Alliance in partnership with official polling companies. In a 2015 online survey of 2,000 participants, only 47 percent of Americans were aware of sepsis. Meanwhile, 86 percent knew about Ebola and 76 percent knew about malaria — two diseases that are much rarer in the United States.

People who have sepsis experience organ dysfunction caused by their body’s overreaction to an initial infection, whether viral, bacterial or fungal. This overreaction is overwhelming for the body, and can lead to death. It’s most common in people with compromised immune systems, like the very young, the very old and those with chronic diseases like AIDS, cancer, or diabetes. But people can also develop sepsis from a simple scrape, wound or burn that was not properly cleaned.

Sepsis is also on the rise: It was the primary or secondary cause of 1.6 million hospitalizations in 2009, more than double the sepsis-related hospitalizations in 1993, according to a report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. And it was the single most expensive reason for hospitalizations in 2009, adding up to nearly $15.4 billion in hospital costs."

More information here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/patty-duke-death-sepsis-awareness_us_56faf2b6e4b0a06d5803ef31

Re: Information About Sepsis

IlliniGirl88 — Thu, 31 Mar 2016 00:45:02 GMT

@Noel7

My mom died of sepsis and never in a million years did I think something like that would happen in our family. It was awful. I was sad to read that Patty Duke had died from it too.

Re: Information About Sepsis

justmyopinion — Thu, 31 Mar 2016 00:47:14 GMT

I lost a loved one to sepsis. He developed it through an IV while in the hospital for a simple procedure. His immune system was compromised therefore he was at a higher risk.

Symptoms

Many doctors view sepsis as a three-stage syndrome, starting with sepsis and progressing through severe sepsis to septic shock. The goal is to treat sepsis during its early stage, before it becomes more dangerous.

Sepsis

To be diagnosed with sepsis, you must exhibit at least two of the following symptoms, plus a probable or confirmed infection:

Body temperature above 101 F (38.3 C) or below 96.8 F (36 C)
Heart rate higher than 90 beats a minute
Respiratory rate higher than 20 breaths a minute

Severe sepsis

Your diagnosis will be upgraded to severe sepsis if you also exhibit at least one of the following signs and symptoms, which indicate an organ may be failing:

Significantly decreased urine output
Abrupt change in mental status
Decrease in platelet count
Difficulty breathing
Abnormal heart pumping function
Abdominal pain

Septic shock

To be diagnosed with septic shock, you must have the signs and symptoms of severe sepsis — plus extremely low blood pressure that doesn't adequately respond to simple fluid replacement.

When to see a doctor

Most often sepsis occurs in people who are hospitalized. People in the intensive care unit are especially vulnerable to developing infections, which can then lead to sepsis. If you get an infection or if you develop signs and symptoms of sepsis after surgery, hospitalization or an infection, seek medical care immediately.

Causes

While any type of infection — bacterial, viral or fungal — can lead to sepsis, the most likely varieties include:

Pneumonia
Abdominal infection
Kidney infection
Bloodstream infection (bacteremia)

The incidence of sepsis appears to be increasing in the United States. The causes of this increase may include:

Aging population. Americans are living longer, which is swelling the ranks of the highest risk age group — people older than 65.
Drug-resistant bacteria. Many types of bacteria can resist the effects of antibiotics that once killed them. These antibiotic-resistant bacteria are often the root cause of the infections that trigger sepsis.
Weakened immune systems. More Americans are living with weakened immune systems, caused by HIV, cancer treatments or transplant drugs.

Risk factors

Sepsis is more common and more dangerous if you:

Are very young or very old
Have a compromised immune system
Are already very sick, often in a hospital's intensive care unit
Have wounds or injuries, such as burns
Have invasive devices, such as intravenous catheters or breathing tubes

Complications

Sepsis ranges from less to more severe. As sepsis worsens, blood flow to vital organs, such as your brain, heart and kidneys, becomes impaired. Sepsis can also cause blood clots to form in your organs and in your arms, legs, fingers and toes — leading to varying degrees of organ failure and tissue death (gangrene).

Most people recover from mild sepsis, but the mortality rate for septic shock is nearly 50 percent. Also, an episode of severe sepsis may place you at higher risk of future infections.

Re: Information About Sepsis

RedTop — Thu, 31 Mar 2016 00:50:15 GMT

All too familiar with it as well, as my Dad died from sepsis from a common staph infection. He suffered horribly for 2 weeks before going into kidney failure, which was The End.

Re: Information About Sepsis

Noel7 — Thu, 31 Mar 2016 00:51:23 GMT

@IlliniGirl88

and

@justmyopinion

I am so sorry to read of your losses. The death of Patty Duke and all of the talk about sepsis must be very difficult for you.

Re: Information About Sepsis

Noel7 — Thu, 31 Mar 2016 00:53:02 GMT

@RedTop wrote:
All too familiar with it as well, as my Dad died from sepsis from a common staph infection. He suffered horribly for 2 weeks before going into kidney failure, which was The End.

*************************

I'm so sorry @RedTop

Re: Information About Sepsis

justmyopinion — Thu, 31 Mar 2016 01:04:22 GMT

Thanks @Noel7

It makes me so sad to think about how much he suffered as his organs were shutting down. 6 long painful weeks in ICU trying to save him. He didn't want to die and fought so hard on dialysis and other drastic measures were done to save him. The doctors wanted us to let him go but he was conscious the whole time and wanted to keep fighting.

Re: Information About Sepsis

akaburtonfan — Thu, 31 Mar 2016 01:04:33 GMT

My dad died due to sepsis caused by a perforated colon.

Re: Information About Sepsis

beach-mom — Thu, 31 Mar 2016 01:17:34 GMT

Thanks for the information. My mom died from septic shock syndrome. She had a bad cold when she went into the hospital late one night. I left for the long trip (with my infant son) first thing in the morning. She seemed to be doing better according to her doctor, although she was sleeping all of the time. The next morning she was gone. DH saw the X-rays and said the infection went right to her lungs and she couldn't fight it. We had just been down the week before for Thanksgiving.

Re: Information About Sepsis

Noel7 — Thu, 31 Mar 2016 01:26:56 GMT

Obviously the report is correct in saying sepsis is more common than most people know.

It is disheartening that so many here have lost loved ones to it.

I'm glad the information is coming out, we need to be on the lookout when someone is ill, the article gives some clues on what to look for.

Re: Information About Sepsis

Kachina624 — Thu, 31 Mar 2016 01:33:25 GMT

I wonder if antibiotic-resistant bacteria affect the mortality rate?

Re: Information About Sepsis

Scooby Doo — Thu, 31 Mar 2016 02:14:04 GMT

@justmyopinion wrote:
Thanks @Noel7

It makes me so sad to think about how much he suffered as his organs were shutting down. 6 long painful weeks in ICU trying to save him. He didn't want to die and fought so hard on dialysis and other drastic measures were done to save him. The doctors wanted us to let him go but he was conscious the whole time and wanted to keep fighting.

Same thing happened to my Dad. He had a perforated colon and internal bleeding. Six long weeks of suffering.

Re: Information About Sepsis

Scooby Doo — Thu, 31 Mar 2016 02:21:07 GMT

My neighbor died quickly from a bladder infection. He was unaware that he was a MRSA carrier, and the infection turned septic and attacked his heart. He died within 48 hrs of being admitted to the hospital.

Re: Information About Sepsis

LTT1 — Thu, 31 Mar 2016 11:18:02 GMT

@Noel7

This is why I asked a few months ago if anyone had been tested for the Staph Superantigen?

i think we all should be aware of this phenomena, which is being studied and researched more now. It is suspected as a potential causative agent for so many disease states: sinus/Rosacea/lupus/ulcers.

Re: Information About Sepsis

Mj12 — Thu, 31 Mar 2016 13:22:30 GMT

@Noel7 wrote:
Obviously the report is correct in saying sepsis is more common than most people know.

It is disheartening that so many here have lost loved ones to it.

I'm glad the information is coming out, we need to be on the lookout when someone is ill, the article gives some clues on what to look for.

Thank you for posting this information, @Noel7. My Mom had very early stage breast cancer and at the advice of her oncologist, had a port installed for chemo. She developed a terrible infection at the port site, became septic, and died. So sad to read of all the losses here due to septicemia.

ETA - she was 62.

Re: Information About Sepsis

Marianne1 — Thu, 31 Mar 2016 13:05:26 GMT

I have a real phobia with medical issues, doctors and medical facilities.

This phobia almost turned deadly for me this past November.

I was so "out of it" with infection and fever (and hid it from my husband, I am a pretty good actress)- but there was a point that I had to drag myself (didn't tell anyone) to the doctor-- who immediately sent me to the ER.

I had to have emergency surgery asap to avoid sepsis, and then another surgery 2 weeks later.

It was horrible. But I am here, I am lucky.

Re: Information About Sepsis

Financialgrl — Thu, 31 Mar 2016 13:19:32 GMT

My father woke extremely disoriented and sent via ambulance to the hospital. He'd been battling chronic kidney disease to begin with but while in hospital developed sepsis which eventually took his kidneys and not long thereafter his life.

I was in treatment for cancer for about 1.5 years. When my immune system was compromised from the chemo, my oncologist drilled it into my head to constantly wash my hands, don't eat a salad from a salad bar if out and if I wanted one to buy and thoroughly wash all lettuces and veggies carefully at home, eat cooked foods, and avoid small children (bc kids in school quickly spread every kind of communicable thing possible.) He told me over and over that if I'm very careful while in treatment I'll come through things ok, however; if I left my defenses drop, sepsis could easily kill me much faster than the cancer ever would. So yeah, this has been on my radar for a long time.

Re: Information About Sepsis

Mj12 — Thu, 31 Mar 2016 13:21:51 GMT

@Marianne1 wrote:
I have a real phobia with medical issues, doctors and medical facilities.

This phobia almost turned deadly for me this past November.

I was so "out of it" with infection and fever (and hid it from my husband, I am a pretty good actress)- but there was a point that I had to drag myself (didn't tell anyone) to the doctor-- who immediately sent me to the ER.

I had to have emergency surgery asap to avoid sepsis, and then another surgery 2 weeks later.

It was horrible. But I am here, I am lucky.

@Marianne1 OMG how terrifying!! Thank God you are ok, you are very lucky.

Re: Information About Sepsis

Justice4all — Thu, 31 Mar 2016 13:34:25 GMT

I read of a father helping with the garbage after a class park outing. Some fluid from the can leaked on his foot. The next morning he had full blown sepsis and only hospitalization saved his life. These super germs enter through an imperceptible break in the skin. Many years ago, in this same popular park, my daughter acquired blood poisoning, with the telltale line progressing up her arm. Antibiotics reversed this. But this was before mersa and these antibiotic resistant superbugs.

Re: Information About Sepsis

Lipstickdiva — Thu, 31 Mar 2016 13:52:14 GMT

I posted in the Patty Duke thread that because I handle a lot of probate cases at work, I get death certificates across my desk constantly and it's getting more and more common to see sepsis listed as the cause of death.

I know of someone who developed sepsis due to an untreated UTI. She was in her early 50's and nearly died. Doctors had told the family to be prepared because she wasn't going to make it but somehow, she pulled through.