This World Sepsis Day, Dr David Farlow wants the community to learn the signs of sepsis so they feel comfortable asking, “could this be sepsis” to those caring for their loved ones.
Dr Farlow was formerly the Chief Medical Officer at the Mackay Hospital and Health Services and a practising clinician for more than 25 years, and is now the Senior Clinical Advisor to Microbio.
When Dr Farlow was working in the Emergency Department and on the wards, sepsis was always a concern. Patients can deteriorate quickly, so the sooner we suspect sepsis, the sooner we can begin treatment. You know your loved ones best – you are in the best position to let healthcare professionals know when things don’t seem right.
Sepsis is the body’s reaction to an infection. It is a medical emergency that affects 49 million people and causes more than 11 million deaths every year. In Australia about 55,000 people will suffer from sepsis each year, and 8,700 will die. Those that survive often have long-term complications such as limb amputations, kidney failure and other health issues. They also have a higher risk of further episodes of sepsis.
Small children, the elderly and people with compromised immune systems are particularly at risk.
Just remember TIME when looking out for sepsis.
Temperature: higher or lower than normal
Infection: may have signs and symptoms of an infection
Mental decline: confused, sleepy, difficult to rouse
Extremely ill: Severe pain, discomfort, shortness of breath
If you or someone you’re with has any of these signs, call an ambulance without delay. If they’re already in the hospital, speak up and ask: “could this be sepsis?” It is important to be proactive and not wait until it’s too late.
There are many resources available to learn more about the signs and symptoms of sepsis through organisations like Sepsis Alliance and the Australian Sepsis Network.
Microbio has developed InfectID-BSI, a revolutionary diagnostic test kit to rapidly identify the top 26 sepsis-causing pathogens direct from blood.
The InfectID-BSI test significantly improves patient outcomes by alerting clinicians within three hours of taking a blood sample which infection to treat. This is a vast improvement on the current gold standard method to identify the causative pathogen which is a slow, two-step blood culturing and identification process that takes between 12 hours and several days and has limited sensitivity.
InfectID-BSI is now available for use and distribution across the United Kingdom and Europe.