Sepsis.
- Brian Dixon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
13 September 2013 07:53244491a rather worrying report,and this could happen to you.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/sepsis-causes-thousands-avoidable-deaths-2270210 - 13 September 2013 09:46244499It used to be called blood-poisoning or septicemia, but has lately been more accurately identified, like that scene in Hot Fuzz where it is explained why Road Traffic Incidents are no longer called 'accidents', because something might actually be to blame.
"Sepsis
Sepsis (/ˈsɛpsɨs/; Greek σῆψις, putrefaction and decay) is a potentially fatal whole-body inflammation (a systemic inflammatory response syndrome or SIRS) caused by severe infection.[1][2] Sepsis can continue even after the infection that caused it is gone. Severe sepsis is sepsis complicated by organ dysfunction. Septic shock is sepsis complicated by a high lactate level or by shock that does not improve after fluid resuscitation.[3] Bacteremia is the presence of viable bacteria in the blood. The term septicemia, the presence of microorganisms or their toxins in the blood, is no longer used by the consensus committee.[2]
Sepsis is caused by the immune system's response to a serious infection, most commonly bacteria, but also fungi, viruses, and parasites in the blood, urinary tract, lungs, skin, or other tissues. Sepsis can be thought of as falling within a continuum from infection to multiple organ dysfunction syndrome.[4]
Common symptoms of sepsis include those related to a specific infection, but usually accompanied by high fevers, hot, flushed skin, elevated heart rate, hyperventilation, altered mental status, swelling, and low blood pressure. In the very young and elderly, or in people with weakened immune systems, the pattern of symptoms may be atypical, with hypothermia and without an easily localizable infection.[5][6] Sepsis causes millions of deaths globally each year.[7]
Sepsis is usually treated with intravenous fluids and antibiotics. If fluid replacement isn't sufficient to maintain blood pressure, vasopressors can be used. Mechanical ventilation and dialysis may be needed to support the function of the lungs and kidneys, respectively. To guide therapy, a central venous catheter and an arterial catheter may be placed; measurement of other hemodynamic variables (such as cardiac output, mixed venous oxygen saturation or stroke volume variation) may also be used. Sepsis patients require preventive measures for deep vein thrombosis, stress ulcers and pressure ulcers, unless other conditions prevent this. Some might benefit from tight control of blood sugar levels with insulin (targeting stress hyperglycemia).[7] The use of corticosteroids is controversial.[8] Activated drotrecogin alfa (recombinant activated protein C), originally marketed for severe sepsis, has not been found to be helpful, and has recently been withdrawn from sale.[9]"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sepsis
"Sepsis is a life-threatening illness caused by the body overreacting to an infection..."
http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Blood-poisoning/Pages/Introduction.aspxIgnorance is bliss, bliss is happiness, I am happy...to draw your attention to the possible connectivity in the foregoing. - 13 September 2013 10:54244504Unfortunately I have first hand experience of this. In October 2010 I contracted pneumonia and sepsis. Initially my GP gave me antibiotics which I took for 3 or 4 days. I was rushed to hospital shortly afterwards as I couldn't breathe, was drowsy and not making sense. After 6 hours of tests I was told I had a respiratory infection and sent home again. Less than 24 hours later my husband had to call an ambulance as my lips had turned blue and I wasn't responding. This time they performed a blood gas check and where shocked to find that my organs were shutting down and I was basically dying and should never have been discharged the day before. For 7 days I was hooked up to an IV antibiotic which is so powerful it can only be prescribed via the General Medical Council (the hospital have to ask permission.) I was basically 'out of it' for the first 3 days and they didn't know if I would make it but thankfully it started working. I was discharged from hospital after 9 days and took almost a year to recover not only from the sepsis, but also the effects of the liquid Domestos I had to endure. It literally 'burnt' my arteries. I sincerely hope no one has to go through that. I still suffer from a sort of post traumatic stress, having nightmares etc but on the upside, I'm still here!
- 17 September 2013 12:37245014CDC warns of 'catastrophic' results of increased drug resistance Centers for Disease Control says 23,000 people a year die as a direct result of resistance and 14,000 die from related infections...
[While this is mostly about things in the USA, we in the UK are not immune to the effects.]
"The US faces "potentially catastrophic consequences" if it does not act immediately to combat drug resistance which already kills an estimated 23,000 people a year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned on Monday.
It is the first time the federal agency has estimated the death toll from bacterial infections that are difficult to treat because of antibiotic resistance.
Every year, at least two million people in the US become ill with drug-resistant infections, the CDC said. While the CDC estimates that 23,000 patients a year die as a direct result of drug resistance, it notes that a further 14,000 die every year from clostridium difficile, an infection related to antibiotic use....
...One of the most problematic bacteria is the staph infection MRSA, or methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, which kills about 11,000 people every year.
Dr Margaret Chan, the director general of the WHO, said in March last year that the overuse of antibiotics was becoming so common she feared a situation where normal infections such as "strep throat or a child's scratched knee" could kill, because bacteria had evolved to survive treatments.
The CDC report said that while it was difficult to directly compare the amount of drugs used in food animals with the amount used in humans, there was evidence that more drugs were used in livestock. The use of antibiotics for promoting growth should be phased out, it said. The Natural Resources Defence Council (NRDC) estimates that 80% of antibiotics sold in the US are used on animals, and that 80% of those are used on healthy animals, in order to prevent disease and infection and to promote growth..."
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/sep/16/cdc-drug-resistance-antibiotics-reportIgnorance is bliss, bliss is happiness, I am happy...to draw your attention to the possible connectivity in the foregoing.