CDC Reports Increase in Sepsis Cases

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (Ivanhoé Newswire) — September is Sepsis Awareness Month.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least 1.7 million adults in the United States develop sepsis and nearly 270,000 die from it. It is the leading cause of death in U.S. hospitals.

Sepsis is a life-threatening medical emergency. When your body has an infection, your immune system fights it off, but it can shut down and damage your normal tissues and organs, causing widespread inflammation throughout your body. Cases are on the rise, and symptoms often go unnoticed until it’s too late.

Firefighter Christopher Askew was doing his duty until, he said, “I felt a little scratch in my throat after my shift and went home. Over the next two days, I started getting worse.”

Christopher had a strep infection that progressed to sepsis.

“I didn’t think I was going to make it. I really felt like death,” he said.

Dr. Elizabeth Middleton, assistant professor of pulmonary and critical care medicine at University of Utah Health, said: “Inflammation is designed to kill the body. But what happens is it gets a little out of control. And then the patient’s body suffers the consequences.”

The CDC has reported that cases of sepsis are on the rise. Experts believe that overuse of antibiotics has created a breeding ground for superbugs. The population is also aging, which means more people are living with weakened immune systems and also suffering from chronic diseases.

“People who are immunocompromised, whose immune system is not intact, are at high risk of developing sepsis because they are more likely to get an infection,” Middleton said.

Middleton said they are teaching their health care providers to spot early signs and implementing programs to promote judicious use of antibiotics to prevent superbugs.

For Askew, it was a battle he had to win.

“I never want to abandon my family. I have four boys, 9, 7, 5 and 4 years old,” he said.

With the support of his family and friends, Askew has recovered and is now back in action.

Middleton said when looking for symptoms, consider the acronym TIME: T for temperature, I for infection, M for mental decline and E for extremely ill.

Contributors to this report include: Marsha Lewis, producer; Cliff Tumetel, associate producer; Roque Correa, editor.