Septicemia or sepsis is a rare type of blood infection that causes poisoning of blood. In common terms it is known as blood poisoning. Severe bacterial infection is the major cause of septicemia. It is characterized by symptoms like lowered blood pressure, change in mental state and fast respiratory rate. Sepsis is a serious condition and should be treated on emergency basis. Intravenous antibiotics and supported respiration are given for the patient depending on his/her condition.
Latest definition of sepsis states it is a life threatening condition causing organ dysfunction due to the severe infection and poor response by the host. According to TICDTF (Third international consensus definitions task force), a person having two symptoms given above is considered to have sepsis.
Under normal condition, the body’s immune system responds to any infection and tries to destroy them. But the response of defense can be extremely fast sometimes causing release of chemicals into the blood leading to inflammation of the entire body. In very severe cases, septic shock can develop, causing death. According to the data given by CDC, every year around million deaths occur in the USA due to septicemia.
Sepsis Stages :
Septicemia can be categorized into 3 stages.
- First stage is mild and has mild symptoms like fever and fast heart rate.
- In the second stage, the person has problems in breathing and malfunctioning of the organs can occur.
- In the final or third stage, the condition becomes very severe causing very low blood pressure and septic shock.
Similarly sepsis can be divided into many types based on infection like MRSA sepsis, VRE sepsis, urosepsis, wound sepsis and neonatal sepsis.