To ask if you know the signs of sepsis?

[SE13Mummy]

This news story has been in the press, on the radio/TV this week because Sam, the son of friends of ours, died of sepsis. He shouldn't have.

Chatting to other friends, it seems as though very many people have never heard of sepsis although most are aware of the symptoms of meningitis. One of the reasons the Morrish family have gone public with their experience is to raise awareness of sepsis; Sam wouldn't have died if he'd received antibiotics.

The Sepsis Trust has lots of information, including this symptoms checklist.

Thanks for highlighting this.

I must admit I can see how it can be easily confused with other conditions. I had 4 of those symptoms with salmonella.

Sorry I was confused between sepsis and septicaemia. I an going to print out the symptoms for the house noticeboard

What a sad story, a beautiful little boy.

Thank you for raising awareness of sepsis - I hadn't heard of it until it happened to me, a week after giving birth. I had been feeling flu like the whole time, I was ignored by the midwives that came to check on me.

I had violent shaking episodes one night, I rang the out of hours doctor who said if I felt like it was an emergency then I should go in otherwise make a drs appointment the next morning. I was delirious, I didn't know I was ill.

I rang the dr the next morning, the phone was answered by a cleaner. I rang again and was promised a phone appointment which never came. DH rang my mum who took me to hospital. I was left waiting for an hour, my violent shaking came back. Within 10 minutes I was almost unconscious and attached to drips.

Turns out I had a urinary tract infection, my urine sample was left in the toilet where I had been asked to leave in on arrival to the hospital 4 hours earlier. Because I'd been ill for so long septicemia had set in and I developed sepsis. It is not until recently that I realised just how ill I was, my dr told me I am very lucky to be here.

I'm lucky to be here because the medical professionals who should have taken care of me failed to do so, and this is the reason that so many people die of sepsis each year. I'm so, so sorry for your loss OP, I'm so sorry for his parents.

Thank you again.

Have told husband and will tell people at work.

Thank you.

Yes I read this sad story this week. Thank you for highlighting it OP.

I do but only because dh had septisemia recently as result of insect bite. Luckily he was sent straight to hospital and had iv anti-biotics.

I am very sorry for your friend's loss.

Thank you for sharing.

Thanks for this... My mum died of sepsis about four years ago, from a perforated bowel that wasn't spotted when she went to A&E with stomach pain and having passed blood. She went home and died in the night... If my dad has known what to look out for, they might have been able to save her.

My dad is just recovering from this. We nearly lost him. He had a scratch on his hand and thought his flu like symptoms were unrelated. They weren't. I've never seen him so ill.

It looks to me like the family did all they could and they knew something was wrong, even though they didn't know what!

No, I didn't and judging from all these terribly sad stories, it is not uncommon and I should be aware. Thank you for posting.

Thank you for posting, I was unaware of this and the symptoms.

My sincere condolences to your friends.

Thank you for posting, such a sad story. I have read the symptoms now.
What causes sepsis?

Thank you for raising awareness of something many people haven't heard of.
I had read this before,a beautiful little boy, how devastating that it was preventable.

I spent two week in ICU in January, I had a kidney stone which caused sepsis, multiple organ failure, level two respiratory failure, pneumonia and a coma, I had full life support including a traechostomy and a nephrostomy bag to collect urine from blocked kidney. I am very very lucky to have survived, it will be a while to recovery.
I'm so so sorry your friends and their sons experience was so awful.

Thanks for posting. Will be thinking for your friends.

theonlyoneiknow I think I might start my own illnesses notice board - great idea (love your username)

"I'm lucky to be here because the medical professionals who should have taken care of me failed to do so, and this is the reason that so many people die of sepsis each year. "

That might be the reason that a very few people die of sepsis each year. It is really tragic when people, like Sam, die as a result of medical error though.

The main reason is that despite best efforts of doctors and nurses, some people still die, often because people can deteriorate very quickly. I've seen patients with sepsis deteriorate quite quickly before my eyes literally on their arrival to hospital. If they've come to hospital early enough and treatment is started early enough (as a doctor, I often just give the antibiotics myself to minimise delays and ensure that I know that they have been given in a busy ward/A&E), then people can do very well. Sadly, sometimes, despite everything, they don't.

Thanks, SE13Mummy, for sharing the signs of sepsis. I'd reinforce what you're saying about rashes. You don't always have a rash in sepsis so don't be falsely reassured about the absence of one.

Thanks - I have shared this.

Sepsis is often referred to as either blood poisoning or septicaemia, although it could be argued that both terms are not entirely accurate. Sepsis is not just limited to the blood and can affect the whole body, including the organs.
Septicaemia (another name for blood poisoning) refers to invasion of bacteria into the bloodstream and this occurs as part of sepsis. Sepsis can also be caused by viral or fungal infections, although bacterial infections are by far the most common cause.

More info here

Sadly, yes. But I agree it could do with awareness being raised. Sadly, so much of it could be seen as so many other things as well.
All the best to your brave friends, to try to make a positive out of the worst always humbles me.

So sorry to hear about your friends little boy. Unfortunately I know first hand the seriousness of sepsis as I very nearly lost my DH to it 2 1/2 years ago. I too did not know the symptoms :(

This is such an important topic, thank you for raising it. Two members of my family suffered sepsis. My daughter was three weeks old when she contracted it; the only signs were her grunting, rather than breathing, and mottled skin. She survived due to quick intervention. My dear mum died from sepsis last December. It happened overnight and by the time I found her she was too far gone. Her bowel had perforated but her doctor misdiagnosed her symptoms as a tummy bug and then sepsis set in.

Always good to raise awareness of this. I had never heard of sepsis but contracted it after birth of DD. Apparently I would have been beyond help about twenty mins after they got the antibiotic drips in. Was terrifying and feel very lucky to be here with no long-term effects.

SO sorry to hear this.

I didn't know the signs either. I was pretty fragile after my hysterectomy, as my ex had walked out when he heard I needed the op. I'd been out of hospital a week and was feeling kind of grotty, but put it down to everything that had gone on. I went to the GPs to have the final staples removed and was sent straight to hospital with a huge wound infection requiring drainage and sepsis... It took 6 weeks of what the docs described as "the Domestos of antibiotics" before it finally healed. I hated having to wear a sanitary pad in my knickers across the wound as it continued to drain for at least 4 weeks but know I was really lucky.