September is Sepsis Awareness Month, and Sept. 13 is World Sepsis Day. According to a recent survey, just 44 percent of Americans have heard of sepsis, even though it contributes to up to half of all hospital deaths in the United States.
In honor of Sepsis Awareness Month, here are are five recent findings on the condition.
1. Sepsis patients are more likely to survive the condition when they are treated in a hospital that has a higher volume of sepsis cases, according to research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
2. Educating physicians and other providers on expediting sepsis diagnosis and administration of antibiotics can lead to lower patient mortality and lower hospital costs, a study from Detroit Medical Center found.
3. Even though obesity is usually tied to worse patient outcomes, that might not be true for patients with sepsis: A study of Medicare beneficiaries showed patients who weighed more were more likely to survive sepsis.
4. Implementing an electronic medical record surveillance tool can help improve sepsis-related clinical outcomes, according to a study.
5. Prolonged episodes of sepsis can lead to reactivation of viruses that were laying dormant in patients, suggesting that the immune system is surpassed and change in sepsis treatment could be beneficial, researchers found.