World Sepsis Day: what it is and how proper diagnosis reduces complications

Technically known as sepsis, the generalized infection It can spread quickly and cause harmful impacts on various organs. The problem leads to the death of around 11 million people each year in the world. The Brazilian Society of Infectious Diseases estimates that sepsis is the main cause of death in hospitals, with about 670,000 cases in adults per year and 240,000 deaths.

This Tuesday (13), the world sepsis day it promotes awareness of the public health problem, stimulating actions that improve perception, education and treatment.

In order to fight the infection, the body causes changes in temperature, blood pressure, heart rate, white blood cell count and breathing. Without proper treatment, cardiac arrest and multiple organ failure can lead to death.

Prevention

Sepsis can affect any organ and is common in hospitalized patients. Hygiene measures and basic health care contribute to preventing the condition. According to the Ministry of Health, the risk can be reduced, especially in children, when parents or guardians follow the vaccination schedule.

The infection of sepsis origin can be bacterial, fungal, viral, parasitic or by protozoa, but the most commonly related foci of sepsis are pneumonia, urinary tract infection and abdominal infection.

As the disease can spread quickly through the body, the first few hours of treatment are considered crucial for control. The Ministry of Health advises that patients should receive antimicrobial drugs – the so-called antibiotic therapy, as soon as possible. To try to identify the causative agent of the disease, blood samples should be collected and samples from suspected infection sites.

Risk factors

Anyone can develop sepsis. However, the disease can be more serious for groups considered at risk, such as premature babies and children under one year of age, elderly people over 65 years of age, patients with cancer, AIDS or who have used chemotherapy or other drugs that affect the body’s defenses. body.

Patients with chronic diseases such as heart or kidney failure and diabetes, alcohol and drug users and hospitalized patients using antibiotics, catheters or probes, in addition to transplants, are also at increased risk of complications.

Symptoms and diagnosis

THE sepsis can present itself in a variety of ways and with symptoms that are associated with the malfunction of different parts of the body.

Signs such as very high fever, increased heart rate, rapid breathing or symptoms such as confusion, agitation, altered level of consciousness, difficulty breathing, decreased urine output, and low blood pressure are indicative that a patient may have an infection. widespread.

The diagnosis of sepsis is based on the identification of the infectious focus and the presence of signs of organ dysfunction. Although there are no specific tests, tests can be performed that allow the identification of the cause of infection, in addition to a blood count to identify the focus, chest X-ray and urine tests.