What is Sepsis?
Anyone can get an infection, and almost any infection, including COVID-19, can lead to sepsis. In a typical year:
- At least 1.7 million adults in America develop sepsis.
- At least 350,000 adults who develop sepsis die during their hospitalization or are discharged to hospice.
- 1 in 3 people who dies in a hospital had sepsis during that hospitalization
Sepsis is the body’s extreme response to an infection. It is a life-threatening medical emergency. Sepsis happens when an infection you already have triggers a chain reaction throughout your body. Most cases of sepsis start before a patient goes to the hospital. Infections that lead to sepsis most often start in the lung, urinary tract, skin, or gastrointestinal tract. Without timely treatment, sepsis can rapidly lead to tissue damage, organ failure, and death.
https://www.cdc.gov/sepsis/what-is-sepsis.html