Sepsis is the body’s overwhelming and life-threatening response to infection that can lead to tissue damage, organ failure, and death. In other words, it’s your body’s overactive and toxic response to an infection. Sepsis is a time-dependent medical emergency that remains the leading cause of death from infection worldwide and is associated with seven deaths per day in Irish hospitals. Lack of knowledge and awareness often results in late patient presentations and delayed treatment by healthcare professionals.
Since 2011, September has been designated as sepsis awareness month. The collaborative efforts carried out by the Global Sepsis Alliance and other organisations are an essential part of improving awareness and education around sepsis. Being able to identify the various warning signs of sepsis is crucial as recognition at an early stage can prevent the body from entering septic shock, and therefore, could save a life!
As a result of efforts such as World Sepsis Day, there has been a significant increase in the general public’s knowledge of sepsis. This increased awareness was highlighted by research carried out by Behaviours and Attitudes (B&A) which reported the public’s knowledge of sepsis to have risen by 31% following a nationwide sepsis awareness campaign conducted by RCSI in 2018.[i]
Increased sepsis awareness by healthcare workers and the general public will help lower mortality rates. However, as stated by Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (WHO Director-General), if mortality rates are to be significantly impacted there is a need “to strengthening health information systems and ensure access to rapid diagnostic tools.”[i]
We’d like to recognise our partner, Accelerate Diagnostics (AxDx) , for their innovation and continued hard work in this space. AxDx’s Pheno System enables rapid I.D of microorganisms from a positive blood culture within 90 minutes as well as phenotypic antimicrobial susceptibility results within 7 hours. The Pheno System has been clinically proven to reduce time to AST results by 40 hours, reduce time to optimal therapy by up to 26 hours and reduce hospital length of stay by up to 2 days. This technology helps deliver final susceptibilities to clinicians in hours rather than days!
Furthermore, with the launch of the Accelerate Diagnostic’s AST only configuration, the Pheno System provides hospitals with the option to pair their existing I.D platforms with the Pheno Systems AST format to reduce turnaround times to final susceptibilities with minimal disruption to their current workflow. If providing optimal therapy for your patients with sepsis and bloodstream infections is a priority, get in touch with our product specialist below and see how the Pheno System can help.
As part of this year’s Sepsis Awareness Month, why not test out your sepsis knowledge here with the World Sepsis Day Quiz!
[1] Awareness of sepsis increases following 2018 RCSI public awareness campaign. (2021). Retrieved 13 September 2021, from https://www.rcsi.com/dublin/news-and-events/news/news-article/2019/09/awareness-of-sepsis-increases-following-2018-rcsi-public-awareness-campaign[2] WHO calls for global action on sepsis – cause of 1 in 5 deaths worldwide. (2021). Retrieved 14 September 2021, from https://www.who.int/news/item/08-09-2020-who-calls-for-global-action-on-sepsis—cause-of-1-in-5-deaths-worldwide
