List of Partners vendors. Sepsis and septicemia are medical terms that refer to infections and your body's response to those infections. Sepsis and septicemia sometimes are used interchangeably, but they're not truly interchangeable—although the terms are closely related, their definitions are different.
Learn the correct use of each word when you're talking about infections. Sepsis is defined as an extreme inflammatory response to infection.
When your body is threatened with a severe infection your immune system responds by releasing chemical messengers to sound the alarm. These chemical messengers produce inflammation throughout your body. The infection can be due to bacteria in the bloodstream, but sepsis can also be produced by an infection that is present only in one part of the body, such as the lungs in pneumonia.
The inflammation in sepsis can produce blood clots and leaking blood vessels. Without proper treatment, this can damage your organs and potentially kill you.
Sepsis can progress to septic shock with your blood pressure dropping and your bodily systems starting to shut down. Your lungs, liver, and kidneys can fail. Therefore, sepsis is a medical emergency. In fact, sepsis kills almost , Americans each year, and survivors can have life-long effects from the disease. The U. If you're experiencing symptoms of sepsis , you should seek immediate medical help.
Symptoms include:. In some people, the first signs of sepsis are:. Elderly people, babies, young children, people with weakened immune systems, and people with long-term chronic illnesses are most at risk from sepsis. Treatment can involve antibiotics plus life support measures such as dialysis and a ventilator until the patient is stabilized. Many different infections can cause sepsis. Some possible causes are:. Sepsis can also be acquired in a hospital from contaminated intravenous lines and surgical incisions.
Some of these infections result from so-called " superbugs ," which are types of bacteria that are resistant to many different antibiotics. These infections and the resulting sepsis are very difficult to treat. Septicemia is defined as having bacteria in the bloodstream that cause sepsis. One complication of septicemia is a serious drop in blood pressure. This is called septic shock. Toxins released by the bacteria in the bloodstream can cause extremely low blood flow, which may result in organ or tissue damage.
Septic shock is a medical emergency. A third complication of septicemia is acute respiratory distress syndrome ARDS. This is a life-threatening condition that prevents enough oxygen from reaching your lungs and blood.
It often results in some level of permanent lung damage. It can also damage your brain, leading to memory problems. Diagnosing septicemia and sepsis are some of the biggest challenges facing doctors. It can be difficult to find the exact cause of the infection. Diagnosis will usually involve a wide range of tests. Your doctor will evaluate your symptoms and ask your medical history. The doctor may also look for signs of conditions that more commonly occur along with septicemia, including:.
Your doctor may want to perform tests on multiple types of fluids to help confirm a bacterial infection. These may include the following:. Your doctor may check your cell and platelet counts and also order tests to analyze your blood clotting. Your doctor may also look at the oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in your blood if septicemia is causing you to have breathing issues. Septicemia that has started to affect your organs or tissue function is a medical emergency.
It must be treated at a hospital. Many people with septicemia are admitted for treatment and recovery. These are designed to work against a wide range of bacteria at once. A more focused antibiotic may be used if the specific bacteria is identified.
You may get fluids and other medications intravenously to maintain your blood pressure or to prevent blood clots from forming. You may also get oxygen through a mask or ventilator if you experience breathing issues as a result of septicemia. Bacterial infections are the underlying cause of septicemia. See a doctor right away if you think you have this condition.
If your infection can be effectively treated with antibiotics in the early stages, you may be able to prevent the bacteria from entering your bloodstream. Parents can help protect children from septicemia by ensuring they stay up to date with their vaccinations. If you already have a compromised immune system, the following precautions can help prevent septicemia:. When diagnosed very early, septicemia can be treated effectively with antibiotics.
Research efforts are focused on finding out better ways to diagnose the condition earlier. This is especially true for people with preexisting conditions that affect their immune systems. There have been many medical developments in diagnosis, treatment, monitoring, and training for septicemia. This has helped reduce mortality rates. According to a study published in Critical Care Medicine , hospital mortality rate from severe sepsis has decreased from 47 percent between and to 29 percent between and Also, I am assuming you would be feeling worse as there are stages of Septecemia and it multiplies quicker.
Treatment would be more aggressive. Usually 6 weeks antibiotics and if certain body parts or organs are effected they sometimes need to remove bacteria from the area.
Always ask questions and knowledge is what will help you protect yourself. It would have been nice if you have described the concentration of bacteria per unit of blood for bacteremia and septicemia. Save my name and email in this browser for the next time I comment. Bacteremia Septicemia 1. Bacteremia is the simple presence of bacteria in the blood.
Septicemia is the presence and multiplication of bacteria in the blood. Bacteremia is not as dangerous as Septicemia. Septicemia is a potentially life-threatening infection. Less amount of bacteria are present in blood. Large amounts of bacteria are present in the blood. This may occur through a wound or infection, or through a surgical procedure or injection. It can arise from infections throughout the body, including infections in the lungs, abdomen, and urinary tract.
Toxins are not produced.
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