When people suffer from sepsis, the body’s immune system goes into overdrive, setting off a series of reactions including widespread inflammation, swelling and blood clotting. This can lead to a significant decrease in blood pressure, which can in turn reduce the blood supply to vital organs, starving them of oxygen. If not treated quickly, sepsis can lead to multiple organ failure and death.

The early treatment of sepsis is not complicated or expensive, involving IV antibiotics along with IV fluids and supplemental oxygen where appropriate.

Sepsis can affect people of any age; it is most common in the elderly and the very young. For some people – such as older people with advanced frailty or dementia – sepsis is a common and sometimes unpreventable cause of death.

The chances of neonatal sepsis occurring are increased by premature birth, rupture of the mother’s membranes more than 24 hours before delivery, by the mother having Group B Streptococcus (GBS) infection whilst pregnant, having a previous baby with GBS, and maternal fever.

Since 2012, a lot of new material and information has been published about sepsis therefore the public and healthcare professionals are more aware; this has led to an increase in the number of people identified and diagnosed with sepsis.

NEWS provides a mechanism to assess physiological parameters in acutely ill patients, including those with suspected sepsis, and helps to identify deterioration.

Safety netting is where a patient with an infection has been clinically assessed and thought not to have sepsis but the patient/carer is given information on what to look out for that should prompt them to seek further clinical assessment.

GP software providers have been asked to include sepsis safety netting resources that GPs can pass on to patients/carers, especially the parents of children with infections.

Sepsis is treated with antibiotics. However, antibiotic resistance (a term called antimicrobial resistance or AMR) now poses a significant threat to the delivery of healthcare. It is therefore imperative to ensure that principles of good antimicrobial stewardship and appropriate use of antibiotics are built into all activities, communication, training and actions relating to the treatment of sepsis.