Sepsis - a Widespread Disease
Sepsis, also known as "blood poisoning", appears when pathogens (bacteria and fungi) are spread via the blood stream from a local source of infection to the whole body. The organism reacts on the infection with an excessive immune response. The body damages itself with a deregulated defense- and repair system. If the reaction is too strong, the patient dies from multiorgan dysfunction.
Every day, 1,400 people die from sepsis worldwide. The disease is the leading cause of death in hospitals. Due to the lack of fast and accurate diagnostics, still every second patient dies. Sepsis is not only a massive problem in intensive care after serious accidents or diseases. The offspring can also be a little wound or a suppurated tooth.
Treatment
Sepsis is mostly diagnosed too late and unspecific. The symptoms are rather broad and can be confused with those of pneumonia for example. Additionally, conventional diagnostics deliver results too late. Altogether this causes the high mortality rate of 50%. There is an urgent need to increase development efforts and to improve diagnosis in terms of speed and precision. Every hour the therapy start is delayed, mortality increases 7%.
Immediate source control (above all early antibiotic therapy) remains the cornerstone of treatment in severe bacterial infections. Recent data proves that lethality almost doubles if an antibiotic therapy is not tailored to the specific pathogen or its resistance pattern.
Blood culture analysis is the current the standard in identifying causative organisms. This technique suffers from delayed results in order to initiate an adequate antibiotic therapy. First results of the blood culture analysis can be expected not earlier than two days after sampling which is too late to influence the clinical decision in the crucial hours after sepsis’ onset.
DNA-based diagnostics are a useful extension to blood culture analysis. Finding and identifying the DNA of the pathogens is possible within few hours. With this information, the vital therapy can be initiated in time.
Every day, 1,400 people die from sepsis worldwide. The disease is the leading cause of death in hospitals. Due to the lack of fast and accurate diagnostics, still every second patient dies. Sepsis is not only a massive problem in intensive care after serious accidents or diseases. The offspring can also be a little wound or a suppurated tooth.
Treatment
Sepsis is mostly diagnosed too late and unspecific. The symptoms are rather broad and can be confused with those of pneumonia for example. Additionally, conventional diagnostics deliver results too late. Altogether this causes the high mortality rate of 50%. There is an urgent need to increase development efforts and to improve diagnosis in terms of speed and precision. Every hour the therapy start is delayed, mortality increases 7%.
Immediate source control (above all early antibiotic therapy) remains the cornerstone of treatment in severe bacterial infections. Recent data proves that lethality almost doubles if an antibiotic therapy is not tailored to the specific pathogen or its resistance pattern.
Blood culture analysis is the current the standard in identifying causative organisms. This technique suffers from delayed results in order to initiate an adequate antibiotic therapy. First results of the blood culture analysis can be expected not earlier than two days after sampling which is too late to influence the clinical decision in the crucial hours after sepsis’ onset.
DNA-based diagnostics are a useful extension to blood culture analysis. Finding and identifying the DNA of the pathogens is possible within few hours. With this information, the vital therapy can be initiated in time.