Sepsis

Sepsis is a life-threatening medical emergency caused by your body’s overwhelming response to an infection. Without urgent treatment, it can lead to tissue damage, organ failure and death.

Sepsis definition

Sepsis is your body’s extreme reaction to an infection. When you have an infection, your immune system works to try to fight it. But sometimes your immune system stops fighting the infection and starts damaging your normal tissues and organs, leading to widespread inflammation throughout your body.

At the same time, an abnormal chain reaction in your clotting system can cause blood clots to form in your blood vessels. This reduces blood flow to the different organs of your body and can cause significant damage or even failure.

What are the three stages of sepsis?

Healthcare providers used to organize sepsis into three stages: sepsis, severe sepsis and septic shock. Now, they identify the condition on a more fluid scale. This scale ranges from infection and bacteremia (bacteria in your bloodstream) to sepsis and septic shock, which can lead to dysfunction of multiple organs and even death.

Who does sepsis affect?

Sepsis can affect anyone, but people with any kind of infection, especially bacteremia, are at a particularly high risk.

Other people who are at a high risk include:

• People older than 65 years old, newborns and infants, and pregnant people.
• People with medical conditions such as diabetes, obesity, cancer and kidney disease.
• People with weakened immune systems.
• People who are in the hospital for other medical reasons.
• People with severe injuries, such as large burns or wounds.
• People with catheters, IVs or breathing tubes.

How common is sepsis?

More than 1.7 million people in the United States receive a diagnosis of sepsis each year. There are differences in sepsis rates among different demographic groups. Sepsis is more common among older adults, with incidence increasing with each year after the age of 65 years old.