Sepsis Claims

There is much controversy surrounding sepsis. Even now, the condition is poorly understood. Until the recent past, it was a barely acknowledged silent killer.

The condition develops when a local infection stops being local. For instance, an abscess if not treated, could poison the whole body. The abscess may be anywhere. The failure to diagnose and treat, may be negligent, and that negligence, may be responsible for the development of the much more serious condition of sepsis.

When a local infection turns into sepsis, the body’s reaction is to try to protect itself, so it starts to shut down. This can be at the extremities – hands and feet – or it can be internal organs that start to fail.

Once started, it can be impossible to prevent the body’s reaction. The body’s reaction in shutting itself down, is called septic shock. This can be fatal.

In England, each year around 120,000 people develop sepsis. About 30,000 die (although the Sepsis Trust suggest the figures are considerably higher).

In the last few years, sepsis protocols have swept through hospitals. Posters in hospitals remind clinicians about the need to consider sepsis. The NHS website says antibiotics should be given within one hour of arriving in hospital “because it can get worse quickly”.

Even if you’re lucky enough to be diagnosed and treated properly, post-sepsis syndrome can cause long term chronic health.

You might imagine given the publicity, doctors couldn’t mistake the condition, or would surely treat the condition immediately when diagnosed, and treat as aggressively as possible. But, you’d be mistaken. Sometimes, for whatever reason, there seems to be reluctance to take seriously the degree of risk associated with sepsis. That’s why the condition is here, in this information section – doctors sometimes seem to miss what to us – non-doctors – can seem obvious.