Sepsis Infection Numbers Rising

Jul. 1, 2002 (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- The incidence of sepsis is expected to rise to 1 million by the end of the decade and that number is growing.

Sepsis is the body's response to an infection. It's caused by bacteria or other microorganisms that have entered a wound or body tissue. These microorganisms, their toxins or other products in the blood cause tissue damage and a dramatic drop in blood pressure. People who have been hospitalized for other reasons, such as diabetic complications, heart disease, pneumonia or cancer, are more likely to develop sepsis than their healthier counterparts because the immune system is already compromised. However, people with no prior medical illnesses can also develop sepsis, which can be life-threatening.

Every minute, more than two people die from severe sepsis in the United States. It's the leading cause of death in the Intensive Care Unit.

Researchers from Emory University in Atlanta found that sepsis increased in both children and adults by 329 percent from 1979 to 1999. They say the rise comes from doctors overusing antibiotics, which create drug-resistant germs making the disease harder to fight.

Doctors say you can help protect yourself against sepsis by avoiding smoking and excessive alcohol drinking, early diagnosis and awareness of symptoms.

Researchers from Vanderbilt University in Tennessee have developed a new drug, which will be marketed as Xigris, a multi-tasking drug. It works on the three main mechanisms that cause sepsis. It stops inflammation, helps to stop clotting, and allows clots that have already been formed to break down. It's given intravenously for four days and the side effects are limited to bleeding. Because the drug is an anticoagulant, the risk of bleeding is inevitable. Currently, there are only two ways a sepsis patient can receive the drug. They can receive it either through a compassion-use program, in which doctors will give the drug when there is little hope of recovery otherwise or by participating in the open label study at a participating center. The drug is undergoing rapid evaluation by the FDA.

SOURCE: Society of Critical Care Medicine's Writers, June 28, 2002; Vanderbilt University