To be scared of Sepsis?

[bananaplease]

It seems to be in the news so much that people are dying from this and it happens without people realising.

Is it a new thing? I don't remember hearing about it much before, but that might just be the increased power of social media/news apps etc.

I might stop reading the news. It's so depressing.

Hi OP,
My son had sepsis as a newborn. It is terrifying. Many people still die and I think the latest stats are someone gets sepsis every 7 mins (might want to check that)
It is scary, but it's just one of those things you have to be vigilant about.
DS went from being irritable to temp of over 40, and other scary symptoms in a matter of hours.
He has made a full recovery. As has everyone else I've known who has had sepsis has. It's good that it is spoken about so much now, as it makes sure people are more aware of the symptoms.
The likelihood is you won't get it. But make sure things like UTI's, kidney infections, etc are treated quickly and properly.

I've had it - went from absolutely fine to hospitalised in just over 12 hours. As soon as I got ill I knew something big was wrong and took myself to GP who luckily took one look at me and called an ambulance! Was only in for a few days but then on bed rest for about a month afterwards as I couldn't stand without vomiting and passing out - due to having lost a lot of cerebral fluid.

I developed it from a breast abscess. I was extremely unwell but when I sought treatment was dismissed as a drug seeker with a migraine. I was in hospital for 2 weeks and it took another 3 or 4 weeks for me to feel remotely normal.

DS2 is doing his dissertation, he’s a student nurse, on sepsis. I’ve been reading it today and I’ve learnt a lot.

I think we all need to be aware of the symptoms so we can look out for them. It’s a difficult one though because the NHS is so stretched and so many people don’t want to bother the doctor.

I’m not going to sit worrying about it. Life is short enough.

And yy to the pp about the cold. Feeling so so cold all the fires and all the blankets in the world won't get you warm but being told your temperature is 40 and having to have layers wrestled off you

My son had sepsis from an ear infection. He was so poorly they thought it had spread to his brain. Very scary, I still panic now when he gets an ear infection, amoxicillin doesn’t work for him anymore and it’s always a battle to get him the only medication that works for his ear infections. Luckily he seems to be growing out of them now.

The difficulty is that there are typical symptoms but not everyone presents typically. So remember that sepsis takes over the whole body. It is symptoms that are not localised to the site of the infection.

I'm wary because I'm at risk of neutropenic sepsis but I try not to worry!

My beautiful friend had sepsis twice. The first time she got over it, she didn't tell me exactly what it was but she seemed fine. A year later she got it again and died within a few days, alone, at home. She was 49. Everyone said she must have known the symptoms having had it before, but I think by the time you know, its too late.

At her funeral I saw an old friend in her early 40s, we all used to work together. Within 6 months she was dead too; also sepsis.

Its only now that I am aware of it, after what happened to them both. However, they both had other, underlying conditions that made them more vulnerable. Nonetheless, it shook us all.

My beautiful friend had sepsis twice. The first time she got over it, she didn't tell me exactly what it was but she seemed fine. A year later she got it again and died within a few days, alone, at home. She was 49. Everyone said she must have known the symptoms having had it before, but I think by the time you know, its too late.

At her funeral I saw an old friend in her early 40s, we all used to work together. Within 6 months she was dead too; also sepsis.

Its only now that I am aware of it, after what happened to them both. However, they both had other, underlying conditions that made them more vulnerable. Nonetheless, it shook us all.

I didn't have sepsis but the paramedics who came out to me when I collapsed thought I might have it. I was later found to have a different infection but until I got to hospital they treated me like I had sepsis. So I think the knowledge is there and treatable if caught early enough.

I think a lot of the time, by the time you get sepsis you need someone else to notice and get you help.

I think it is scary because like some have said, the symptoms come on quickly and often it is realised too late.

It is good that more awareness is out there.

Since having my DD (nearly 2) I get nervous about things like this. Life is so precious.

So sorry to hear that some of you have lost people or have suffered yourself x

I think a lot of the time, by the time you get sepsis you need someone else to notice and get you help.

This. You need someone to fight your corner because you won't be able to

My step sister died of it. She'd shown enough signs to be diagnosed but the hospital couldn't cope with the number of patients it had that day and she was left too long.

It's definitely hitting the news way more than it has done previously. I'm not sure why that is, but I guess it's a good thing if more people can identify the symptoms, and a bad thing if people are scared unnecessarily. Has there been an awareness-raising campaign about the symptoms recently?

NBU, I also would not be here without IV antibiotics. In my case it was a tooth abcess I didn't know I had, until I was hit in the middle of the night by the worst pain I've ever had, my neck started swelling up and I felt like I was going to die. A&E and a week in hospital ensured I didn't, but I was aware of sepsis. If I hadn't been, I might have waited until the emergency dentist opened in the morning, by which time I would have been much worse. I deteriorated in a matter of hours - much more quickly than I would have expected.

One thing which really annoys me in the UK though is that they just give generic antibiotics for all kinds of things instead of properly testing a sample/growing a culture and then finding out which targeted antibiotic would work. My husband has lots of infections, and GPs just give the out in a haphazard manner, trying things out, and are very reluctant to take a culture. In other (supposedly worse) health-care systems, they do not give antibiotics without testing, or if they do, they use a generic one til the more specific results come back (which they do in hospital here). In Germany you can pay 10 euros and leave a sample, it's very cheap and not something which is massively controversial or hugely bureaucratic as here.

All these campaigns to stop people asking for antibiotics when they don't need them would be helped if they tested for when people don't need them (as no bacteria would grow, and that result can be revealed in 1-3 days).

The results of tests are also available much quicker in some countries, I don't know why.

I don't feel confident at the moment about the NHS's ability to manage minor infections- they are good once you get life-threateningly sick (as they do the cultures, put in IV antibiotics, change them if they are ineffective) but not so good at the other side, preferring to blame patients for asking for them.

I'm not sure why that is
It's because it's not as fatal as it used to be but ONLY if it is treated FAST.

Management of sepsis has improved as have outcomes. So now its actually getting diagnosed and treated and people are being saved that wouldnt have been in the past.

My dad died from it nearly 15 years ago - we are definitely right to be wary and aware.

He thought he had flu and was bed ridden by it - by the time he was in the hospital it was too late and he died three days later. He was a housing officer and its thought he shook hands with someone who something on their hands, touched a door handle or something and it went in through a cut.

Ds5 and I had it, when he was born. I was too out of it to be scared but dh thought we were both going to die.

Oh the side effect of sepsis and all the antibiotics they pump into you (3 different forms in my case) is the most upset bowels you have ever had. Seriously. When you're wiped out and then have a dodgy antibiotic bum on top...

Sorry had to lighten the thread a bit.

I thought I was aware of it but I clearly wasn't, this is terrifying. I'm on a stream of antibiotics for recurrent eczema infections and it's been that way for years now.

I think we think of infections as very light, treatable things. Oh it's an ear infection, oh it's just a little infection in the cut. Perhaps pp was right - we don't clean wounds properly now it isn't taught to everyone. We should all carry a small set with plasters to cover open wounds and wipes to make the wound sterile. Hard for people with a body full of eczema, though.

Jeepers wept i nearly fucking died as a result of late neglected nhs treatment. Why post in aibu seriously.

It happens and it can kill. My grandmother died of it in 1923 before they'd discovered antibiotics. With antibiotic resistance it might become more of a problem. Who knows?

However, in terms of news scare stories it has taken over from the acid attacks of about six months ago. There will be something else to be terrified of in the summer.