Sepsis

The Sepsis topic includes research on the causes, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of blood infections that lead to sepsis, a life-threatening immune response to infection. It also includes research on septic shock.

Sepsis is a leading cause of death in hospitals and a main reason why people are readmitted to the hospital. Unfortunately, there is no specific treatment protocol for sepsis other than supportive care for the health problems resulting from sepsis and therapy to fight infectious agents that may be the underlying cause.

The people at highest risk of sepsis are infants, children, older adults, and vulnerable people who have underlying medical problems, have concurrent injuries or surgeries, or are taking certain medications. Unknown biological characteristics in the body may increase or decrease a person’s susceptibility to sepsis and cause some people to decline more rapidly while others recover quickly.