IONA NURSE NEWS
May 2026
What is Sepsis?
“Sepsis is the body’s overwhelming response to an infection” and is a life-threatening medical emergency. It is the deadliest health condition in the world, killing more people globally than Cancer. Sepsis is a preventable and treatable condition. You can get sepsis from any sort of infection, fungal, viral, or bacterial. You can develop sepsis from a paper cut, an infection after surgery, the flu and even strip throat. Sepsis has been around forever but because it is a complex disease and finding effective therapies has been challenging, it is not as well-known as other health conditions. With sepsis, common symptoms such as dehyration, pain, fever, trouble breathing and confusion are similar to other illnesses and often get misdiagnosed. Currently there is no routine blood test to identify sepsis, we rely on health professionals to use a process of elimination to determine sepsis, which makes a diagnosis more difficult. Who’s at risk? People who are over 65 or under the age of 1. Immunocompromised people, such as cancer patients or transplant recipients, but anyone can get an infection at any time.
Most people have heard of sepsis but have no idea how to recognize the signs and symptoms. Sepsis Alliance uses the mnemonic T.I.M.E. to describe the most common symptoms: temperature (high or low) infection, mental decline and extreme illness. Sepsis starts as an infection in any part of the body and spreads through the blood. When this happens, your immune system launches a sever inflammatory response that can affect every system in your body. Untreated sepsis can progress to shock and multi- organ failure. Sepsis can develop quickly and even cause death in as little as 12 hours.
If you are feeling extremely ill and seeking medical help do not be shy to suggest to a health provider, could this be SEPSIS??
For more information check out www.sepsiscanada.ca
Blessings Christine (parish nurse)