As a fast-moving illness, the symptoms of sepsis will appear rapidly but there are a number of tell-tale signs, including breathlessness, shivering, muscle pain, fever, fast heart beat, dizziness, sickness or diarrhea.
If a patient display two of the symptoms below, it could be an indication of Sepsis:
- A fever above 101ºF or a temperature below 96.8ºF
- A heart rate of more than 90 beats per minute
- Increased breathing rate of more than 20 breaths per minute
- A suspected or confirmed infection
Usually sepsis is diagnosed by a blood test, but other tests may help to determine the type of infection, where it is located and which body functions have been affected.
It is essential that where sepsis is suspected a diagnosis is made as soon as possible so that appropriate treatment can be given. This can help stop the progress of sepsis and any long-term damage to the body.
Treatment
The main treatment for sepsis is antibiotics and ideally antibiotic treatment should start within an hour of diagnosis. With severe sepsis and septic shock the antibiotics would usually be given intravenously. Broad spectrum antibiotics should be administered initially but once tests have been carried out to identify a specific bacterium a more focused antibiotic can be used. Fluids can also be administered intravenously and oxygen provided to assist breathing.
If sepsis isn`t spotted early enough and is allowed to advance untreated, it can lead to severe sepsis and septic shock.
Complications of septic shock can include respiratory failure, heart failure, kidney failure or abnormal blood clotting. These are all serious health conditions that need to be treated urgently and septic shock can be fatal.
In the longer term, whilst many patients make a full recovery, albeit sometimes after many months, others can suffer permanent organ damage and require ongoing treatment. Some patients need an amputation to stop the spread of the infection or because of a lack of blood supply to limbs.