All your burning health questions answered by the professionals.
“Each year I see lots on social media and in the press about people dying from sepsis, especially this time of year when the awareness day occurs. Is sepsis easy to catch? How can I help prevent it, and what should I be looking out for? Should I be worried about my children playing in areas such as playgrounds where they could easily cut themselves or graze a knee?”
Answer from Dr Michael O’Dwyer, Consultant in Anaesthesiology and ICU Medicine at Beacon Hospital and National Clinical Lead for the Sepsis Programme.
Sepsis occurs when a body’s immune response to a simple infection becomes uncontrolled and begins to damage organs throughout the body. There’s a push to educate the public on the symptoms of sepsis at this time of the year because we will start to see a spike in elderly people developing chest infections as we enter the winter months. Although any infection – such as bladder and kidney infections and infected cuts and abrasions – can lead to sepsis, the most common initial infection we see is a chest infection. Even viral infections like the flu or Covid-19 can lead to sepsis.
Although anyone can develop sepsis it is far more common in the elderly and in those living with other serious illnesses. People receiving chemotherapy for cancers and biologics for conditions such as IBD and steroids are also at an increased risk as are very young infants.
It’s important to remember that the huge majority of infections will either get better on their own or with antibiotics and will not develop into sepsis. However, we should be aware of the signs of sepsis so that we seek help quickly if it begins to develop as early treatment offers the best chance of making a full recovery.
S – slurred speech, new confusion, too sick to communicate
E – extreme muscle aches or pain, extreme shivering, extreme fever
P – no pee / urine in the last 12 hours, no wet nappies
S – shortness of breath, blue lips, dizzy when standing
I – I feel like I’m going to die
S – skin mottled or discoloured, skin rash that remains visible when pressed on with a glass
The best way to prevent sepsis is to make sure you are up to date with your immunisations, complete any courses of antibiotics prescribed for you by your doctor for simple infections, follow general good health advice such as undertaking regular moderate exercise and eating healthily, avoiding smoking and drinking excessively and remembering that breastfeeding will give some immune protection to your baby. Simply keeping any cuts and grazes clean is usually sufficient to keep them from getting infected.
So, if you start to develop these symptoms or if you feel you or the person you are caring for is not getting better, even if they are on antibiotics, don’t be afraid to seek help and ask ‘could this be sepsis?’
Have a question for the professionals you’d like answered? Get in touch with sarah.gill@image.ie with the subject headline ‘Ask The Doctor’.
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