More aggressive care for sepsis urged as scientists find new clue to what fuels it

LAURAN NEERGAARD
AP Medical Writer
October 5, 2010|12:02 a.m.

WASHINGTON (AP) — It's one of the most intractable killers you've probably never heard of: Sepsis, an out-of-control reaction to infection that can start shutting down organs in mere hours.

A new push is beginning for hospitals to be more aggressive in rolling out care at the first hint of trouble — even as scientists discover an intriguing clue to what may fuel the deadly cascade estimated to kill more than 200,000 people a year in the U.S. alone.

"Minutes matter," he adds, saying delays too often are "just an issue of not treating this like a medical emergency."

But the alliance's goal: Start antibiotics and intravenous fluids, to counter the shock or low blood pressure, within an hour of suspicion of sepsis. Every hour of delay lowers survival by nearly 8 percent, yet many hospitals don't get appropriate care started for four or even six hours, O'Brien told the meeting.

During sepsis, red blood cells can become injured and leak an iron-based substance called heme that's normally part of the hemoglobin that carries oxygen. But when it leaks into the bloodstream at the same time the body is experiencing lots of inflammation — a given during sepsis — the heme becomes toxic to organs, explains lead researcher Miguel Soares of Portugal's Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciencia.


HEALTHBEAT: More aggressive care for sepsis urged as scientists find new clue to what fuels it