Essay On Sepsis

577 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: severe sepsis pathophysiology

Sepsis is a serious condition caused by a response to an infection. Sepsis is also called septicemia and it’s the bacteria in the blood that often occurs with severe infections. It’s a life threatening infection that gets worse very quickly. Sepsis has many pathogens, but the really major ones are gram and negative bacilli. Also the bacterium that goes through our body could infect anywhere and set off the response that leads to sepsis. It’s a fatal disease that affects at least seven hundred fifty thousand people and causes millions of deaths every year. This infection is deadly because twenty to thirty five percent of the people in the world have sepsis and thirty to seventy percent of these people die.
Sepsis is commonly caused by bacteria, but can also be caused by fungi or viruses in the blood. The germs themselves do not cause sepsis; the chemicals released actually cause the response. The most common primary source of infection in sepsis is the lungs and the urinary tract. The lungs cause fifty percent of all sepsis and no other source is found in one third of the cases.
The...

Show More
Related

  • Is Oral Care an Effective Intervention for Reducing the Incidence of Pneumonia in Mechanically Ventilated Patients?

    695 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hospital-acquired infections (HAI) are preventable and pose a threat to hospitals and patients; increasing the cost, nominally and physically, for both. Pneumonia makes up approximately 15% of all HAI and is the leading cause of nosocomial deaths. Pneumonia is most frequently caused by bacterial microorganisms reaching the lungs by way of aspiration, inhalation or the hematogenous spread of a primary infection. There are two categories of Hospital-Acquired Pneumonia (HAP); Health-Care Associated Pneumonia (HCAP) and Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP).

    Read More

  • Septic Shock Case Studies

    993 Words  | 2 Pages

    Also, cytokines are used as they can destroy the infection, however there is a problem with this diagnosis as excessive production can cause tissue and organ damage. The pathological physiological outcomes of sepsis is that there is a multi-organ dysfunction that includes the heart, brain, kidneys and the lungs. Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a condition where there is a low oxygen level in the blood, this mostly affects the lungs, people who have sepsis will be affected by ARDS as their breathing rate will decrease. Another reason for multi-organ dysfunction is that there is a lack of blood being given to the organs, this causes low blood pressure or as it’s called hypotension, this mostly affects diabetic people which leads them to having sepsis.

    Read More

  • Amy Widener's Case Study Of Sepsis

    1674 Words  | 4 Pages

    Unfortunately, infection places people in the hospital and infection is developed in the hospital. Two ways to contract sepsis are through hospital-caused infection, like in Amy Widener’s case, and through an infection caused by outside sources, for example a urinary tract infection in an elderly person. Everyone is capable of getting sepsis however cases appear most often in children under one year of age and in elderly older than sixty-five years. This is due to the body’s immune system being weaker in these demographics than in a person that has a built-up and strong immune system (“Sepsis Questions and Answers”). Sepsis occurs because of infection so the immune system plays a large role in the body’s defense mechanism. When people with already compromised immune systems develop an infection or are in an environment that infection is likely to occur, for example an unsanitary procedure in a hospital, then the body’s chances of being able to fight the infection off are greatly

    Read More

  • Septic Shock Research Paper

    847 Words  | 2 Pages

    Renal and hepatic function tests include creatinine test, blood urea nitrogen (BUN) test, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) test, bilirubin test, and others. Urinalysis includes urine osmolality tests and urine culture tests. The sooner one’s sepsis is diagnosed and managed, the better the chances are one has to survive. There are three identifiable stages of sepsis. The three stages are, in order, sepsis, severe sepsis, and septic shock. The stage of sepsis is achieved when an infection enters the bloodstream and enacts inflammatory responses throughout the body. This stage is not as life threatening as the next two stages but should be assessed and treated for as soon as possible. The stage of severe sepsis is achieved when an infection disrupts the flow of blood to the brain or renal organs resulting towards organ failure. There can be an occurrence of gangrene in the arms, legs, fingers, and toes exhibiting tissue death caused by blood clots. If treatment is not given quickly in this stage then septic shock is bound to occur. The stage of septic shock is achieved when the overall blood pressure drops drastically leading to respiratory, cardiac, or organ failure and likely death This stage demands

    Read More

  • Sepsis Case Studies

    1001 Words  | 3 Pages

    Daniels (2011) said that sepsis is one of the leading causes of death in hospital patient worldwide and severe sepsis causes around 37,000 deaths in the UK every year. Czura (2011) has defined it as a life-threatening condition that arises when the body’s response to infection injures its own tissues and organs and sepsis can be present in any patient and in any clinical setting. Based on the learner’s reading, she became aware of the importance of identifying the early inflammatory markers such as temperature less than 36 degrees or more than 38.3 degrees, heart rate greater than 90 beats per minute (bpm), respiratory rate greater than 20 breaths/minute, altered mental state, white cell count lesser than 4g/l or greater than 12g/l and blood glucose greater than 7.7 millimoles for non-diabetic patients. Presence of any two of these will follow further test and if sepsis is indicated then commence the sepsis six care bundle within the hour, contact the doctor and critical care outreach team. The sepsis six care bundle which was developed by Daniels et al (2010) has shown to improve delivery of reliable care across a range of clinical settings which is now used in many UK

    Read More

  • Necrotizing Fasciitis (flesh eating bacteria)

    1651 Words  | 4 Pages

    Necrotizing fasciitis, known commonly known as "flesh eating bacteria [infection]", occurs in a wide range of people 1. It occurs in the elderly, middle aged and younger patients. It occurs in athletes and debilitated individuals. It can occur in drug abusers with self inflicted wounds and healthy individuals with incidental injuries. It may occur in those with metabolic disorders such as diabetes and those with suppressed immune systems. It may occur in those with no underlying disorders and no known particular injury. It occurs under ordinary circumstances such as a seemingly harmless cut or scrape and in wounds resulting from major trauma such as an auto accident.

    Read More

  • Pertussis Essay

    777 Words  | 2 Pages

    Pertussis, also known as whooping cough, is a respiratory tract infection characterized by a violent cough. The violent cough incudes a series of severe uncontrollable coughing, hacking, or whooping. (1) Pertussis is a very contagious disease caused by bacteria named Bordetella pertussis, which is transmitted through fluids from sneezing or coughing around a person’s breathing space. The bacteria release toxins, damage cilia, and cause airways to swell.

    Read More

  • Pathophysiology of Sepsis Inflammatory Response

    987 Words  | 2 Pages

    According to the Clinical Excellence Commission (2014), approximately 6,000 deaths per annum are caused by sepsis in Australia alone. These mortality figures are higher than breast cancer (2,864) and prostate cancer (3,235) combined (Cancer Australia, 2014). Despite advances in modern medicine and increased understanding of the need for timely recognition and intervention (Dellinger et al, 2013), sepsis remains the primary cause of death from infection worldwide (McClelland, 2014). Studies undertaken by The Sepsis Alliance (2014) and Schmidt et al, (2014) state that 40% of patients diagnosed with severe sepsis do not survive.

    Read More

  • Health Associated Infections

    1616 Words  | 4 Pages

    Hospital acquired infections are one of the most common complications of care in the hospital setting. Hospital acquired infections are infections that patients acquired during the stay in the hospital. These infections can cause an increase number of days the patients stay in the hospital. Hospital acquired infections makes the patients worse or even causes death. “In the USA alone, hospital acquired infections cause about 1.7 million infections and 99,000 deaths per year”(secondary).

    Read More

  • Pertussis Essay

    725 Words  | 2 Pages

    Clinical manifestations of pertussis in adolescents and adults are often less severe than in infants and children. If previously immunized, a prolonged cough may be the only symptom. Other symptoms may include sputum production, sweating episodes, and sore throat. Complications of pertussis can result in pneumonia or otitis media. A severe cough may contribute to urinary incontinence, rib fracture, lumbar strain, hernia, and rarely stroke, or seizure in relation to hypoxia (Cornia & Lipsky, 2017). Complications of pertussis may be more severe in the elderly, those with other comorbidities, or ones that are immunocompromised.

    Read More

  • Essay On Sepsis

    1506 Words  | 4 Pages

    Sepsis is defined as a systemic inflammatory response caused by an infective process such as viral, bacterial or fungal (Holling, 2011). Assessment on a patient and starting treatment for sepsis is based on identifying several factors including the infective source, antibiotic administration and fluid replacement (Bailey, 2013). Because time is critical any delay in identifying patients with sepsis will have a negatively affect the patients’ outcome. Many studies have concluded every hour in delay of treatment mortality is increased by 7% (Bailey, 2013). Within this assignment I will briefly discuss the previous practice and the recent practice including the study based on sepsis. I will show what enabled practice to change and I will use the two comparisons of current practice and best practice.

    Read More

  • Urinary Tract Infection Essay

    1251 Words  | 3 Pages

    A urinary tract infection is a very common infection that can happen to anybody. A urinary tract infection usually occurs when bacteria enters the urethra and multiples in the urinary system. The Urinary tract includes the kidneys, the thin tubes that carry urine from the kidneys to the bladder (ureters), and the main tube that carries the urine from the bladder (urethra). Women, men, and children are all immune to this infection. Women have the highest chances of getting it. In the Urinary tract, the main links of the ureters help get rid of any bacteria that tries to enter the urine, and the bladder helps prevent urine from backing up into the kidneys.

    Read More

  • Basic Discription Of Microbiology

    2050 Words  | 5 Pages

    Engelkirk & Burton (1979) state that bacteria can reproduce asexually by simple division of cells and some bacteria reproduce sexually by conjunction. A bacterium is a waste producer of products and secretions. This allows pathogens to invade their hosts to cause disease some of these harmful diseases are Scarlet fever, an acute illness, characterized by a reddish skin rash, which is caused by systematic infection with the bacterium streptococcus. St. Anthony’s Fire is another bacterial disease. “St. Anthony’s Fire which is an acute superficial form of celluitus involving the dermal lymphatic, usually caused by infection with streptococci and chiefly characterized by a peripherally spreading hot, bright red, oedematous.

    Read More

  • Puerperal Sepsis Essay

    2311 Words  | 5 Pages

    “ Sepsis” according to the International Surviving Sepsis Campaign, is defined as the presence of infection together with systemic manifestations of infection (Dellinger et al., 2013) In todays modern society sepsis still accounts for 15% of maternal deaths a year worldwide (Dolea & Stein, 2003). Despite medical advances, aseptic technique, and antibiotic use, sepsis is the most common cause of direct maternal death in the UK. According to the CMACE report the maternal mortality rate increased from 0.85 deaths per 100,000 maternities in 2003–05 to 1.13 deaths in 2006–08 (Harper, 2011). Puerperal sepsis has a long history within obstetrics and midwifery, and yet despite this knowledge it has become, yet again, the leading cause of direct maternal death. Therefore due to the increased maternal mortality, I have chosen to focus on the care of a woman within ...

    Read More

  • Organ Failure Essay

    1955 Words  | 4 Pages

    With many causes of organ failure that led to a death sentence a long-term treatment needed to be found. In December 1954, the first organ was transplanted from living donor to living recipient, who was between twin siblings, was to be the next direction of treatment. With the invention of an immunosuppressant cyclosporine, the cure was thought to have been found for organ failure. It would have been the answer to the organ failure until the procurement laws were not able to keep up with the need for organs, which formed a list of patients called the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS). The scientist and physicians went back to the drawing board to come up with bioengineered organs with the used of stem cell on matrices. Multiple biometrics are being used for the bioengineered organs. Introduction At a point in history, any type of organ failure was a death sentence. Many causes lead to an organ failure, whether it is from congenital causes, abuse, or illness it is an unfortunate circumstance. This was the case until December 23, 1954 when the first live organ transplant was performed in the United States, which was from a living donor to living recipient. The first transplant ever conducted was on an individual that needed a kidney, which was conducted using identical twins (Kaserman Ph.D, 2007). The new technology lead to a completely new list of trails in the organ transplantation field that would lead to a huge change in the future of medicine, and that of the individuals that need the lifesaving procedures. These trails became easier in 1983 with the invention of immunosuppressant called cyclosporine, which allow for cadaveric organ donation (Kaserman Ph.D, 2007). Unfortunately, the law for organ procurement could not kee...

    Read More

More about Essay On Sepsis

Open Document