Survey: Most Americans Unfamiliar With Sepsis and Septic Shock
According to new research, most Americans are unfamiliar with the terms sepsis or septic shock, a life-threatening condition from the body’s response to infections, which causes more deaths per year than breast cancer, HIV/AIDS and prostate cancer combined.
Sepsis kills about 200,000 Americans each year, but a survey by the Feinstein institute found that 60% of Americans were unfamiliar with the term; a number that is consistent with surveys of the rest of the world’s population. Lack of knowledge can be fatal, as septic shock strikes rapidly, and a correct diagnosis of the ailment early on can be the difference between life and death.
Sepsis occurs when the body overreacts to an infection, causing the immune system to begin damaging the body’s own tissues as well as combating foreign bacteria.
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Learn MoreCurrently, only about 70% of patients diagnosed with septic shock walk out of U.S. hospitals alive. That is because every hour that treatment is delayed lowers the rate of survival by about 8%, yet many hospitals fail to immediately diagnose sepsis and do not begin providing appropriate treatment for four to six hours.
Symptoms of septic shock are often vague, including:
- Confusion
- Shortness of breath
- Increase heart rate
- Declining blood pressure
- Weakness
The Feinstein Institute surveyed 1,000 Americans before a worldwide symposium on sepsis sponsored by the institute in late September. They found that 60% of Americans had never heard of the terms sepsis or septic shock, and that the lack of knowledge was highest among seniors and African Americans; both groups suffer higher than average death rates from sepsis.
“In the U.S., one in four hospital deaths is caused by sepsis, yet the majority of Americans have never even heard of the condition,” said Dr. Kevin J. Tracey, president of the Feinstein Institute. “The lack of awareness and understanding is one of the major challenges we face in health care today.”
A group known as the Global Sepsis Alliance (GSA) is calling for healthcare providers to treat sepsis as a medical emergency in all cases. The GSA estimates that sepsis affects about 750,000 Americans each year and costs the nation’s healthcare system about $17 billion annually.
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EvelynNovember 27, 2010 at 12:18 am
My brother-in-law (77 years old) died last week from sepsis. He had a prostate biopsy a week earlier. He started to cough, chills, sweating and an extremely low blood pressure. He thought it was a cold, went to walk-in and was given lodine and a cough medicine. Next day was taken to emergency and the next day he was going into renal failure. His heart stopped as they were inserting a catheter. Doc[Show More]My brother-in-law (77 years old) died last week from sepsis. He had a prostate biopsy a week earlier. He started to cough, chills, sweating and an extremely low blood pressure. He thought it was a cold, went to walk-in and was given lodine and a cough medicine. Next day was taken to emergency and the next day he was going into renal failure. His heart stopped as they were inserting a catheter. Doctor in CCU said he had septis and now our family believes the bacteria came from the prostate biopsy.
SheilaNovember 14, 2010 at 6:15 pm
My father died of sepsis shock. I brought him to Swedish American Hospital in Rockford Illinois on a Monday around 11:00 a.m. He was not seen by a doctor until 6:00 p.m. The doctor took an x-ray and told us he had a blockage. He was admitted and when I went to visit him the next day I found him half naked on a bed laying in a puddle of urine. He was complaining of having pain so bad that I could n[Show More]My father died of sepsis shock. I brought him to Swedish American Hospital in Rockford Illinois on a Monday around 11:00 a.m. He was not seen by a doctor until 6:00 p.m. The doctor took an x-ray and told us he had a blockage. He was admitted and when I went to visit him the next day I found him half naked on a bed laying in a puddle of urine. He was complaining of having pain so bad that I could not know how bad it was and that he had his call light on for a long time and no one was coming to help him. I went to the nurses station and complained. They then sent someone to help him. But when she went to get him out of bed to clean it he passed out and fell back and was in cardiac arrest. They brought him back but he was then transferred to ICU. He died the next day. Later our attorney found out that the x-ray did not reveal he had a blockage and even though he had signs of sepsis shock they failed to recognize it and treat it. Dieing from sepsis is very painful and more needs to be done to prevent it.