Sepsis Is Associated With One In Five Deaths Worldwide

According to a new study, the number of deaths caused by sepsis worldwide is twice as high as previously thought. What's more, sepsis is the main culprit in fatal cases in U. S. hospitals and costs the country $ 24 billion annually. Published in the medical journal The Lancet, the scientific research in question again reveals that this infection is globally associated with one in five deaths.

What is sepsis and what are the causes?

Sepsis is caused by infectious pathogens and is also known as a silent killer due to its difficult detection, which is largely due to the immune system. Instead of fighting the virus, it also attacks other parts of the body. As a result, organ failure occurred. If sepsis does not kill its victims, they can suffer lifelong disabilities. As for the most common triggers, doctors show diarrheal infections as well as respiratory tract infections such as pneumonia and bronchitis.

The study was able to determine that each year sepsis kills more people than cancer - 11 million people, which means that 19.7% of all deaths worldwide are associated with the infection. Researchers at the University of Washington explain that in most cases these are low- and middle-income countries, but rich ones do not shed their thumbs. According to data collected from the study, there were 48.9 million cases of sepsis in total.

Another rather alarming statistic shows that 40% of cases linked to this serious blood infection affect children under 5 years old. 2.9 million deaths of children (under the age of 5) were recorded in 2017. Many of them were even newborns.

Learn more about the study here.