Background: Sepsis is a serious and often fatal clinical syndrome, resulting from infection. Information on patient demographics, risk factors, and infections leading to sepsis is needed to integrate comprehensive sepsis prevention, early recognition, and treatment strategies. Methods: To describe characteristics of patients with sepsis, CDC and partners conducted a retrospective chart review in four New York hospitals. Random samples of medical records from adult and pediatric patients with administrative codes for severe sepsis or septic shock were reviewed. Results: Medical records of 246 adults and 79 children (aged birth to 17 years) were reviewed. Overall, 72% of patients had a health care factor during the 30 days before sepsis admission or a selected chronic condition likely to require frequent medical care. Pneumonia was the most common infection leading to sepsis. The most common pathogens isolated from blood cultures were Escherichia coli in adults aged ≥18 years, Klebsiella spp. in children aged ≥1 year, and Enterococcus spp. in infants aged <1 year; for 106 (33%) patients, no pathogen was isolated. Eighty-two (25%) patients with sepsis died, including 65 (26%) adults and 17 (22%) infants and children. Conclusions: Infection prevention strategies (e.g., vaccination, reducing transmission of pathogens in health care environments, and appropriate management of chronic diseases) are likely to have a substantial impact on reducing sepsis. CDC, in partnership with organizations representing clinicians, patients, and other stakeholders, is launching a comprehensive campaign to demonstrate that prevention of infections that cause sepsis, and early recognition of sepsis, are integral to overall patient safety.
Vital Signs: Epidemiology of Sepsis: Prevalence of Health Care Factors and Opportunities for Prevention
IntroductionMany different infections can lead to sepsis, a serious and often fatal clinical syndrome that is characterized by organ dysfunction and can be difficult to diagnose (1-3). Sepsis is associated with high morbidity and mortality (1-4) and accounted for $23.7 billion in health care expenditures in 2013 (5). Identifying specific sepsis prevention strategies is a public health priority.Evaluations of sepsis epidemiology have typically used death certificate or health services utilization data; these methods have well-described limitations (6,7). Most sepsis initiatives have focused on improving outcomes by promoting protocol-driven approaches that facilitate early recognition and treatment (8). Detailed data regarding underlying conditions, health care factors, types of infections, and pathogens most commonly associated with sepsis could guide development of programs to inform clinicians, patients, and families about prevention of infections that can lead to sepsis. To inform sepsis initiatives and health communication efforts, CDC partnered with the New York State Department of Health and Emerging Infections Program to perform a medical record assessment to describe clinical charact...