Why do we allow Septicemia “The Common Killer “to fall under the radar? Sepsis kills more people than HIV/Aids, prostate cancer and breast cancer combined. In an attempt to cut the n...

Why do we allow Septicemia “The Common Killer “to fall under the radar?

Sepsis kills more people than HIV/Aids, prostate cancer and breast cancer combined. In an attempt to cut the number of sepsis deaths –an estimated 8m worldwide every year and 37,000 in Britain alone – the Global Sepsis Alliance is launching the first ever World Sepsis Day on Thursday 13 September 2012.

Do we need to do more to promote awareness of this condition? If you feel 37000 deaths justify this please visit www.globalsepsisalliance.org/world/ and also continue the debate here at Govtoday sharing views, experience and advice on this forum?

Septicemia is not new and clinicians have been dealing with this condition for long time. Time has come to start “preventing” rather than just treating it when it happens. Is it time to start looking at biomarkers for this condition so that rapid tests can be done at community level and appropriate rapid treatment initiated? Instead of putting so much money into treatment and still unable to save thousands of deaths, could the money not be put into research for rapid diagnostic tests? How can public awareness of this condition be enhanced so that they also start putting pressure on their local MPs to do something about these preventable deaths?
Sepsis alliance has started the ball rolling; now it is time for healthcare staff to take the initiative and do what is necessary to reduce the number of deaths.

Sepsis is of course a poorly defined term and before any measurement of the burden of sepsis and meaningful international comparisons can be made there needs to be a universally accepted definition.

Bacterial infection remains a significant problem and although antibiotics in particular have possibly given us what may eventually be a temporary reprieve the microbes are striking back with Darwinian efficiency they are developing ever more sophisticated resistance mechanisms.

The poor use of antimicrobial drugs is widely accepted as a global problem with over the counter prescribing in far too many countries.

Early recognition of infections by clinicians is vital as is appropriate treatment. This treatment should be by use of effective antimicrobial stewardship.

Unless we are not careful this major cause of death potentially may become worse.

Prevention needs to include patient education, public health, and effective infection control as much as sophisticated antibiotics and diagnostic tests.

Recognition of sepsis does not require sophisticated diagnostic techniques but recognition of its effects which are as old at Galen over 2 thousand years ago.