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(Friday, 30th Jan, 2015)
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Septicaemia (sepsis)]

Septicaemia (sepsis)

What is septicaemia?

Septicaemia, also known as sepsis, is a potentially life-threatening infection in which large amounts of bacteria are present in the blood. It is commonly referred to as blood poisoning.

What causes it?



Infection spreads throughout the body via the blood stream.

What are the symptoms?

The affected person may have symptoms of the associated condition that triggered the septicaemia such as symptoms of pneumonia or severe urinary infection.




How is it diagnosed?

Septicaemia requires admission to an acute general hospital and may necessitate admission to an intensive care unit. The definitive test for diagnosing the condition is called a blood culture. This involves the taking of a small sample of blood and incubating it in the laboratory. If septicaemia is present bacteria will be detected and these can be studied further to establish which antibiotics will be effective against them.

How is it treated?

Septicaemia is a rapidly progressive condition and the sufferer usually looks very ill even to the non-medical person. If the person does not receive urgent medical care the condition can evolve very rapidly into irreversible toxic shock.

Septicaemia usually requires intravenous treatment. This facilitates the speedy administration of antibiotics and other drugs. Intravenous fluids also help to maintain the blood pressure.

It is necessary to begin antibiotic treatment while waiting for the blood culture results. Broad-spectrum antibiotics are usually used, which are antibiotics that are effective against a wide variety of bacteria. Once the results of the blood culture are available the antibiotic being prescribed may be changed to one more specific for the particular bacteria causing the septicaemia.

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