Female Burn Injury Patients More Prone to Certain Bacterial Blood Infections, Sepsis: Study

Severe burns may disrupt normal hormone function, altering the body’s immune response and potentially making women more vulnerable to serious infections.

According to a study published in the journal Burns on February 25, Swiss researchers found that women who suffer burn injuries develop bacteremia blood infections at nearly double the rate as men, leading to a greater risk of sepsis and death.

Severe burns destroy the skin’s natural barrier against bacteria, allowing germs to enter the body, bloodstream and airways. Although patients are typically given early antibiotics, infections can still develop or return.

When bacteria enter the bloodstream, the condition is known as bacteremia, which can cause fever, chills, rapid heart rate and fatigue, requiring immediate intravenous antibiotics. 

Without prompt treatment, the infection can escalate into sepsis, a dangerous condition triggered by an overwhelming immune response that damages the body’s own tissues. This cascade can lead to organ dysfunction, septic shock and death. Patients typically require emergency hospitalization, intravenous antibiotics and aggressive fluid resuscitation. Even with treatment, sepsis carries a high mortality rate, and survivors are often left with lasting physical and cognitive impairments.

For the new study, a team of researchers from the University Hospital Zurich, conducted a single center study of critically ill patients with severe burn injuries admitted to the hospital’s Burn Center between January 2017 and December 2021.

Led by Dr. Nicole J.M. Schweizer, the team looked at data on 269 patients who had severe burn injuries. Of those, 26% were women and had an average burn area across 19% of their body surface.

According to the data, bacteremia occurred in 61 patients overall, usually developing between five and 13 days after admission. However, roughly 30% of women developed bacteremia after suffering burn injuries compared to 20% of men.

As a result of these findings, researchers determined that women had a significantly higher risk of developing bacteremia from burn injuries than men, while also finding that women’s death rates were higher.

“Female sex was associated with a higher bacteremia risk, suggesting sex-specific vulnerability that warrants further investigation.”

— Dr. Nicole J.M. Schweizer, Impact of sex on the development of bacteremia in critically ill burn patients: A retrospective cohort study

Although the team pointed out that women’s immune systems are often better able to cope with pathogens, it appears that when suffering from burns, this is not the case. They noted it is unclear why this is, yet it is possible burn injuries may change how hormones are metabolized.

Schweitzer concluded that the findings “support a more tailored infection monitoring protocol and strategies in female burn patients during ICU care,” calling for more studies to analyze how sex hormones affect the immune system, skin, airways and the body’s microbiome.

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