After Rory Staunton fell at the gym and cut his arm in March of 2012, the 12-year-old became feverish and vomited during the night, complaining of a sharp pain in his leg. When his parents called his pediatrician the next day, she wasn鈥檛 worried. She said there was a stomach virus going around New York City, and his leg pain was likely due to his fall.
However, she advised his parents, Orlaith and Ciaran Staunton, to take the youngster to the emergency department because he might be dehydrated. There hospital workers聽did some blood work, gave him fluids and sent him home.
The next day Rory鈥檚 pain and fever were worse. His skin was mottled and the tip of his nose turned blue. The Stauntons raced back to the hospital, where he was admitted to intensive care. The diagnosis: septic shock. Rory was fighting a system-wide infection that was turning his skin black and shutting down聽his organs. On Sunday, four days after he dove for the ball in gym class, Rory died.
鈥淚t was frightening to think that something could kill my son so fast and it would be something that I had never heard of,鈥� said Orlaith Staunton.
She鈥檚 not alone. Sepsis every year.聽People at highest risk are those with weakened immune systems, the very young and elderly, patients with chronic diseases such as diabetes, cancer or kidney disease and those with illnesses such as pneumonia or who use catheters that can cause infections.聽But it can strike anyone, even a healthy child like Rory.
Sepsis is a body鈥檚 overwhelming response to infection. It typically occurs when germs from an infection聽get into the bloodstream and spread throughout the body. To fight the infection, the body mounts an immune response that may trigger inflammation that聽damages tissues and interferes with blood flow. That can lead to a ,聽potentially causing organ failure and death.
Yet many people don鈥檛 know about sepsis.聽Meanwhile, health care providers struggle to identify it early. There鈥檚 no simple diagnostic test and many symptoms 鈥� elevated heart and respiratory rates, fever or chills, pain 鈥� are common ones that are present in many conditions.
Now, a growing number of doctors, hospitals, patient advocates and state and federal policymakers are pushing to educate consumers and clinicians and ensure procedures聽are followed that focus on prevention and early detection.
Rory Staunton鈥檚 family established a foundation to raise awareness about sepsis. (Courtesy of the Rory Staunton Foundation)
The Stauntons established 聽to raise awareness about the deadly infection, and in 2013 New York became the first state to require all hospitals to put in place聽procedures for its early recognition and treatment.聽This month, Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner requiring similar actions by hospitals in that state.
The federal Centers For Disease Control and Prevention Tuesday about sepsis as part of an effort to draw attention to the of the disease.
鈥淓arly treatment is vital,鈥� said Dr. Anthony Fiore, chief of the epidemiology research and innovations branch at the CDC鈥檚 Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an emergency that you need to deal with, like heart attack and stroke.鈥�
When聽sepsis advances to , characterized by severely low blood pressure,聽each hour of delay in administering antibiotics by an average 7.6 percent, one study found.
In 2013, sepsis, or septicemia as it鈥檚 sometimes called, , the most expensive聽condition treated.聽Up to half of people who get it die. Many cases are related to health care, such as catheter use or an infection acquired in the hospital. But contrary to the common perception, approximately 80 percent of cases develop outside the hospital or at a nursing home, according to the new CDC study.
It was frightening to think that something could kill my son so fast and it would be something that I had never heard of.
As the front line in identifying these cases, emergency departments typically have sepsis protocols in place to screen for the disease.
鈥淭he work you do in those first three to six hours in the emergency department makes more difference in cost than the whole next several weeks in the ICU,鈥� said Dr. Todd L. Slesinger, emergency medicine residency program director at Aventura Hospital and Medical Center in Aventura, Fla., who co-chairs a task force on sepsis at the American College of Emergency Physicians, which has to help emergency department staff screen and treat the condition.
Last fall, the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to measure and report on efforts聽to screen for and treat the illness.聽In addition, Medicare sets penalties for , including high rates of post-operative sepsis.
Patient advocates and policymakers agree that patients themselves are key to improving its prevention and early detection. Good hygiene can help prevent sepsis, including cleaning wounds. If someone gets injured, look for signs of sepsis, including rapid breathing or heart rate, confusion, fever or chills and pale or discolored skin.
Don鈥檛 assume health care providers have it covered, experts advise. If you or someone you鈥檙e caring for has these symptoms, ask the health care provider directly: 鈥淒o you think it might be sepsis?鈥�
This story has been updated to include information from the CDC report.
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