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Causes
By Mayo Clinic staffWhile any type of infection can lead to sepsis, the most likely varieties include:
- Pneumonia
- Abdominal infection
- Kidney infection
- Bloodstream infection (bacteremia)
The incidence of sepsis appears to be increasing in the United States. The causes of this increase may include:
- Aging population. Americans are living longer, which is swelling the ranks of the highest risk age group — people older than 65.
- Drug-resistant bacteria. Many types of bacteria can resist the effects of antibiotics that once killed them. These antibiotic-resistant bacteria are often the root cause of the infections that trigger sepsis.
- Weakened immune systems. More Americans are living with weakened immune systems, caused by HIV, cancer treatments or transplant drugs.
- Medical advances. People are having more — and more complicated — medical treatments, devices and surgeries.
References
- Sepsis fact sheet. National Institute of General Medical Sciences. http://www.nigms.nih.gov/Publications/factsheet_sepsis.htm. Accessed Oct. 24, 2012.
- Marx JA, et al. Rosen's Emergency Medicine: Concepts and Clinical Practice. 7th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby Elsevier; 2010. http://www.mdconsult.com/books/about.do?about=true&eid=4-u1.0-B978-0-323-05472-0..X0001-1--TOP&isbn=978-0-323-05472-0&uniqId=230100505-57. Accessed Oct. 25, 2012.
- .Goldman L, et al. Cecil Medicine. 24th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2012. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/191371208-2/0/1492/0.html#. Accessed Oct. 25, 2012.
- Chang HJ, et al. Patient page: Sepsis. Journal of the American Medical Association. 2010;304:1856.
- About sepsis. Society of Critical Care Medicine. http://www.survivingsepsis.org/Introduction/Pages/default.aspx. Accessed Oct. 25, 2012.
- Antonelli M, et al. Year in review in Intensive Care Medicine 2011. II. Cardiovascular, infections, pneumonia and sepsis, critical care organization and outcome, education, ultrasonography, metabolism and coagulation. Intensive Care Medicine. 2012;38:345.
- Skrupky LP, et al. Advances in the management of sepsis and the understanding of key immunological defects. Anesthesiology. 2011;115:1349.
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